Meyer Lemon yumminess

I always makes me happy when Meyer Lemons are around.  They are such a nice bright addtiion to recipes in the winter time.  Makes me feel like there is a bit of sunshine peaking through all of this dreary winter darkness!  Well, not today anyways; the sun is so bright today, I cannot believe it in the beginning of January!  And it's not sun reflecting off of white snow; it's just straight snow! :)

Anyways, these cookies were inspired, sort-of, by Trader Joe's Meyer Lemon Thins.  I didn't want them to be crisp and as thin as those, I wanted them to be soft, buttery and substantial that 2 could be enough (but really, are two cookies ever just enough?)

They turned out to be just perfect, a hint of lemon with a nice balance of buttery sweetness.  I actually think they could have used a bit more lemon and they would have been knock 'em dead perfect.  The recipe below was adapted from a regular lemon cookie recipe I found a long time ago in a magazine.  This was pulled from the days before I started to pay attention to what I was doing, so I couldn't tell you for sure what magazine it was, but probably Taste of Home or Woman's Day or something.  The only magazines I never cut out of were Gourmet and Bon Appetit. I still have each and every one, will never cut those up!

Meyer Lemon Rounds

1/2 cup Meyer Lemon juice (I'll probably add another 1/4 cup to this next time)
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Optional-zest of 2-3 lemons.  I don't like zest much, but the recipe used it, so I'm sure it's fine. 

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. 

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together.  Add in the butter and lemon juice (and zest, if using).  Add the flour mixture until just combined. 

Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and refridgerate for at least 30-40 minutes.  You can roll the dough out and use a cookie cutter to make the rounds or any other design, but I chose to roll them into logs like my thin mints.  I was making batches of cookies over a few days for Christmas celebrations, so it was easier to just pull the log out of the fridge and cut as opposed to rolling out dough.  Since you will be using your hands to roll these, once you have them rolled into their logs, you'll want to re-chill them since your boyd heat will soften them up again.  So chill then for at least another half hour, but no more than 2 days.

When you're ready, preheat your oven to 350°F.  Slice your log in 1/4 inch thick rounds.  Place them on a foil lined (shiny side down), about  one inch apart.  Bake them for 8-10 minutes, until the egdes are slightly golden brown. 

Let them cool on the baking sheets for about 10 mins before you transfer them to a plate or cooling rack. They are going to be very delicate, so they will sink thru the grate of the cooling rack if you put them on there too soon. 

Bright sweet, lemony-buttery goodness right there :)

Happy New Year!!!! Let's eat more cookies!!! :)

So I have been doing lots and lots of stuff the last few months- remodeling a house with my love, working, working, working, getting myself together to open a bakery, and enjoying life.  So I haven't really been on here much, both in writing and posting and reading some of my favorites blogs. 

I would like to say that the new year will bring more time for me to be here, but I am going to guarantee that won't be the case, but I definitely will get there and check in with everyone more often.

For now, I leave you with a cookie recipe that is now my most favorite recipe in the WORLD!!!  I know, that's a bold statement.  I won't say these are the best cookies in the world b/c of course it is all about preference, but really, these are so yummy.  I loved them and so did all of my friends and family who tried them. 
They are my version of a Thin Mint cookie, but not covered in chocolate, although you certainly can do that!  I prefer them without b/c there is so much flavor in the cookie alone, you don't need to add the extra bit of sugar that hurts my teeth!  And they can be baked until just done, so they aren't crunchy, or you can leave them in an extra 2 minutes to get the crunchy cookie without burning them.  :)

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder-Dutch-process is the best for these cookies

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 sticks salted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cup sugar

2 large egg
3/4 cup Andies Mint chips

Directions

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla extract. Beat in sugar slowly. Add egg and beat until blended. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt in medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients and Andies chips and beat just until blended.  The dough will be very sticky. 

Divide the dough in fourths.  Roll each fourth in plastic wrap.  Roll it into a freeform log.  The log would be easier for later, but it'll be hard to make a perfect one, so just do what you can and fix it after it's been refridgerated some. 

Refridgerate for at least 2 hours or up to a day.  Once completely chilled through, take out of the fridge and shape better into a smoother log shape.  Slice 1/4 inch thick rounds.  Place the rounds on a lined cookie sheet (I use foil, shiny side down), about an inch apart.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven, preheated to 350°F.  Bake 12-13 minutes for softer cookies, 15 mins for crunchier cookies.  

This recipes makes about 6-7 dozen, depending on how big the diameter of the cookies are.  I never end up rolling the same size logs, so that's the reason for the variance in how many this will make! 

If you love chocolate and mint, these are for you.  The dark chocolate flavor with the hint of mint from the chips... omg, these are definitely addictive.  So be careful with them!!!You can also easily halve this recipe.  I've done it before when I didn't need as much, but around Christmas time and having at least 3 different houses to go to, I always make a full batch!

Banana bread, one recipe, altered for three different flavors.

 

I love banana bread.  Love love love love love it.  I could eat this every day.  I could make bread pudding with it, french toast, panini’s, everything and anything. 

Base Recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped coarse (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
4 very ripe bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt, fat free
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F degrees. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with Pam.

2. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and walnuts together in a large bowl; set aside.

4. Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

5. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. (The bread can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

Variations…

For a slightly healthier version, substitute the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour.  You can also use a white whole wheat flour.   It is a 100% whole wheat flour that’s lighter colored, milder tasting, and a somewhat finer grind than standard red whole wheat flour.

White whole wheat (milled from white, rather than red wheat berries) is WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, not a white flour, but it has all the fiber and nutrition of traditional whole wheat, but acts much more like white flour in baking. You just have to remember with whole wheat flours, there is a higher liquid to flour ratio.  If you are using a whole wheat flour, you will need to increase the liquid. 

I say slightly healthier b/c in all honesty, I wouldn’t substitute the butter for canola oil.  The butter adds a beautifully delicious depth to the flavor.  The richness of the butter is not something you want to leave out of this one. 

You can do it though.  You can also substitute the sugar for honey.  I did that for one of the breads I made.  I called that one Elvis bread.  ;)

For the Elvis bread, I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour.  I added a 1/2 cup peanut butter, which isn’t exactly an additional liquid, but it was an addition that helped the moisture in the end result.  I also used a full stick melted butter and substituted honey for the sugar .  I used the same amount of honey as the sugar, 3/4 cup. 

Elvis bread:

2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup organic honey

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 large very ripe mashed bananas

1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

2 large eggs, beaten lightly

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 stick melted butter, cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract

Sad, but I forgot to take pictures of this bread before it was devoured.  I actually wish I added more honey, or maybe even used a honey roasted peanut butter., like Skippy’s honey roasted, Jason’s all natural honey peanut butter or Peanut Butter & Co. Bee’s Knees peanut butter.  Any of the above would have been a good addition. 

This bread is especially good for a peanut butter and honey panini… 

The final bread I made this night is was a peanut butter and chocolate chip bread.  For this recipe, I used the above, but instead of honey, I used light brown sugar and added a 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.  That was yummy bread.  But then, isn’t anything with chocolate yummy??

Cinnamon Cheesecake

 

I’ve disappeared from the blogging world for some time, I know.  I can’t even guarantee that I’ll be more consistent from here on out.  But I’m still here, cooking and baking b/w everything else, including working, working out, remodeling a house, trying to plan and open a bakery, spending time with my love, my family and friends.  I don’t juggle it all well, so I am hoping that I’ll learn soon.  But one of the reasons why I’ve disappeared is b/c I’ve been having a hard time juggling everyone and everything. 

Anyone with any advice would be super! 

On to more important things…

Cheesecake!

Cinnamon Cheesecake

Crust:

1 box of carrot cake or spice cake box mix

1/2-3/4 stick of butter, melted

1 tsp cinnamon extract

Filling:
4 (8 oz) pkgs of cream cheese, softened to room temp

1 1/3 cups organic white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon extract

4 large eggs, at room temp

1 1/3 cups naturally flavored vanilla Greek yogurt

Directions:

Spray a 9 inch spring form pan w/ non-stick cooking spray. Wrap the bottom of the pan w/ 2-3 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Set aside.
Mix 1/2 stick of melted butter and cinnamon extract with the cake mix.  Mix together until the batter becomes a thick, not crumbly "dough".  If it is too dry w/ only the 1/2 stick melted butter, add in another 1/4 stick of melted butter.  Try not to use too much more than this, or else it will be too greasy.

Press the "dough" into the greased pan.  Press it into an even layer on the bottom circle, but also press some up the sides, at least an inch up, or all the way up the sides. 

Beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft, about 4 minutes. While the mixer is running, add the sugar and ground cinnamon and continue to beat about another 4 mins, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla and cinnamon extracts. Add the eggs one by one, beating a full minute after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the Greek yogurt.

Pour all of the cheesecake batter into the pan over the crust.  Place the pan inside of a large roasting pan that is on a rack in the oven, like a bain marie.  Pour hot water in the roasting pan so the springform pan is surrounded by hot water.  You can boil some water in a pot or, if you have a good hot water heater in your house, you can use hot water straight from the sink. 

Slowly and carefully push the rack into the oven and bake the cheesecake for 1 1/2 hours.

After the cheesecake has finished backing, turn off the oven and prop open the oven, just enough to let the air escape.

Take the cheesecake out of the roasting pan and allow it to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack. Once it has reached room temp, place the cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but overnight is preferred. 

This is my favorite cheesecake recipe.  I love using the base recipe and changing it to make different flavor combinations.  However, this is a cheesecake that is NOT fun to make the day of.  My best recommendation is to make it the night before.  If you need it for the same day, start first thing in the morning.  It takes a while to come to room temp on the counter and then completely cool in the refrigerator. 

Yum. There is some creamy dreamy deliciousness right there.  Mmmmm….

Chicken Souvlaki and how essential protein and carbs are

 

Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.  Protein is also essential for your muscles to help rebuild themselves and keep from hurting and cramping after a good workout.  Oh, and water.  Water is important for that as well.  And stretching.  Can’t forget that. 

Along with fat and carbohydrates, protein is a "macronutrient," meaning that the body needs relatively large amounts of it. Vitamins and minerals, which are needed in only small quantities, are called "micronutrients." But unlike fat and carbohydrates, the body does not store protein, and therefore has no reservoir to draw on when it needs a new supply.

But it is also important to have enough carbohydrates in with your protein.  I’ve learned balancing both is essential to not only to keeping your muscles strong, but also to help lose weight. 

Carbohydrates provide fuel for your body in the form of glucose or sugar. There are two types of carbohydrates -- simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are sugars, such as the ones found in candy, fruits and baked goods. Complex carbohydrates are starches found in beans, nuts, vegetables and whole grains.  You generally want to keep away from the simple carbs, but fresh fruits are simple carbs.  However, they contain vitamins and fiber too.  So sometimes it’s ok to have those simple carbs. 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan on giving up dessert anytime soon.  But I know that one cookie is enough, or half a slice compared to what everyone else is getting is ok.  It’s ok to have a little bit b/c in all honesty, more than that is just indulging myself a bit too much.  I don’t need to keep having more and more to remember that feeling of bliss on the first bite.  B/c really, is the second bite ever as good as the first?

I’ve become somewhat of a chicken fiend lately.  My ideal dinner (prior to a workout) is a grilled or broiled chicken breast, seasoned with some dried herbs and pepper, with a small side of brown rice and some roasted or steamed green veggies.  If I am eating later, after a workout, I usually nix the rice. 

So back to the chicken. It can get boring after a while.  Sure there are tons of other ways to get protein.  Eggs, nuts, tofu (not a big fan of that stuff, sorry!), soy, etc, etc, etc…

So b/c it can get boring and I still crave it a lot, we have to cook it differently, mostly because my family cannot stand having it over and over again…  haha.

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes, the simplicity of it is baffling considering how delicious it is. 

Chicken and rice is so common a dish…  but not this way. 

Souvlaki (or shish-ka-bob or brochette) is delicious, but a bit time consuming.  And easy.

Depending on how much you want, cut up the raw chicken breast into chunks.  Put them in a large bowl pour a bottle of a sweet red wine into the bowl, covering a quarter of the chicken.  We use a Greek wine called Mavrodaphne.  Then I add olive oil, lemon juice from 1-2 lemons (depending on how much chicken you have in the bowl), dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley, black pepper, garlic powder and sea salt (not too much sea salt). 

Let it sit for a couple of hours, at least.  The longer you let it sit, the stronger the wine flavor will be.  I don’t mind it too much, but it can make the chicken taste dramatically different. 

Skewer the chicken chunks with different raw veggies.  Mom only likes onion, so mostly we do that, but I like to add red peppers and tomatoes too.  Alternate them of course, and keep it to four pieces of meat per skewer. 

Grill or broil them until they are completely done.  This will take different times for different sizes…  But if you are unsure, keep a meat thermometer with you to check the temp on the thicker pieces. 

The rice. So make rice like normal.  That’s the easy boring part.  But how we really love our rice is with sautéed onion. 

Chop an onion (or more, if you’re feeding a crowd) and sauté them with butter in a pan until they are browned. 

Then toss them into the cooked rice and mix as evenly as you can. 

And you have deliciousness.  If you are grilling, get some nice fresh corn on the cob and coat them with olive oil and sprinkle pepper and garlic powder around them. 

Grill them until you can see the kernels separate a bit and the outside is charred and yummy. 

So this is an especially yummy dinner for a nice spring day.  It’s about time spring got here to enjoy it!!!!

Cookies!!!!

So I’m late on the Christmas cookies from this last year…  I forgot about them.  Oops. 

But I remembered eventually, so here I am, posting about them.  This is gonna be one big post, cuz there were LOTS of cookies!!! I’ll link back to the ones I did not change at all, to make it easier on you guys!

First, the I made some brownie covered Oreos from Picky Palate (not shown above).  These were pretty good.  I made them in paper cupcake liners b/c I saw someone else make them on another site and highly recommended using the paper liners b/c they stuck to the pan even w/ cooking spray.  The first time I made them, I used too much brownie batter (huh, too much???) so they were more like brownies surprises, but the second time (and the picture time), I used a lot less batter.  They were delicious either way, really. 

Yum!!

So next around were the red velvet shortbread from Kribie’s Cravings.  I was sooooo excited about these.  I love everything and anything red velvet.  I made them EXACTLY how they were written on the site…  but they didn’t work for me.  I couldn’t figure it out at the time, but I realize now (silly me) that she used 1 cup of butter, but the original recipe only had 1/2 cup of butter.  I am VERY determined to make this, especially b/c they would work so well with Christmas and Valentine’s Day, at least.  And you can change the color to make them work for any holiday...  So I will definitely try them again with the appropriate amount of butter.  I’m sure they will not spreadthe nexrt time around.

Oh and the flavor was EXCELLENT!  They were buttery with a hint of cocoa, so they were PERFECT, other than the increased butter. 

Then there were these pinwheel cookies…  These were really yummy, bujt I think I will use different kind of filling, like Solo pie filling.  Something of more substanance.  But the cookie was delicious.  I would just highly recommend baking them on parchment paper, not foil.  On foil, they spread and stuck.  But they were very yummy! 

 

I also made some yummy chocolate cookie covered rolos.  Mmmm…  I adapted it from Twol Peas and Their Pod’s recipe for Chocolate Caramel cookies with sea salt.  I used the cookie recipe and made some changes on that too. 

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

5 tbsp butter

4 oz milk chocolate

7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 rolls of Rolos

Preheat oven to 350ºF; line 2 baking sheets with baking paper, lightly coated with cooking spray. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Sift together flour, soda, and salt; set aside.

Melt butter and milk chocolate in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine. Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Wrap the chocolate dough around the Rolos. Place balls on cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

The cookie was very soft and chewy and the addition of the ooey gooey rolo made it that much better.  This was definitely one of my favorites and LOVED by the security guys in my work building.  They loved these.  I should have included more!!!

The Nocha Buena cookies.  I copied this recipe to a word doc and I forgot to put the website.  I’m so sorry to whoever I copied this from!!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 ounces fine-quality chocolate, finely chopped, melted, and cooled

About 1/2 cup dulce de leche (I used Trader Joe’s fluer de sel caramel. Yum)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F with oven racks in upper and lower thirds.

Sift or whisk together flour, cocoa, chili powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl until combined. Set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, beat until light and fluffy.

Add egg yolks, and vanilla, beating well, scraping down the sides after each addition. Mix in the cooled chocolate.

Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until combined well.

Drop batter by rounded teaspoons 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed up and dry looking around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool.

Continue with the remaining dough, making sure to let the baking sheets cool between batches.

A couple of options for the caramel. You can make them thumbprints like I did the second time around.  Or you can make sandwiches like I did the first time (I didn’t take pics of those).  The Trader Joe’s caramel was thinner and not thick enough to handle a sandwich cookie.  the cookies were too heavy and the caramel oozed out…  Oops.  If you choose thumbprints, make a thick disk with the dough and make a little bowl on the top.  Bake them like that, then fill once they’ve cooled.  To make the sandwiches, make thinner disks so they aren’t too huge or fat.  Dust with additional cocoa powder and a sprinkle of cinnamon and/or chili powder.

These cookies are not hard or soft.  They weren’t really crumbly like shortbread…  They were almost a tender shortbread, if that makes any sense?  But the chili makes a really good addition to these cookies, they were not “spicy” at all, more like a kick of something. 

So my FAVORITE dessert for Christmas were these chocolate dulce de leche bars…  I saw them on What’s Cooking, Chicago?

The only thing I changed was that I added 6 oz of cooled melted milk chocolate when I added the eggs and vanilla.  OMG, these were absolutely to die for!  The actual bar was soft and chewy, the caramel was rich and gooey.  The combination of the two was amazing.  My other recommendations would be to spray the pan, line it with foil-enough to have overhand, then spray it again.  Then, let them cool in the pan on a wire rack.  After they’ve cooled most of the way, put them in the fridge to help the caramel set.  Once they are completely cooled, lift the foil out of the pan.  I used a nifty little brownie cutter made by Wilton. It makes three rectangular bars at once.  All neat and the same shape.  I like when things are nice and even.  :)

And it let me have all the scraps, hehe.

These are definitely going to be made again and again and again.  They were awesome. 

So thank you for forgiving me my late post on my Christmas goodies.  And enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

 

I love apples and cinnamon.  I love cupcakes.  I love cinnamon rolls.  When I saw Andrea of Can You Stay for Dinner? make an apple walnut cinnamon roll cupcake, I was in love.  It was love at first site.  I didn’t need to smell them, eat them, devour them.  I just knew. 

They are soft and chewy, sweet, cinnamon-y, apple-y, gooey, DELICIOUS!!!!

I made the for Thanksgiving dessert (I know, I’m late, sorry!!!) and they stayed just as delicious hours later as they were fresh from the oven, piping hot and super gooey soft.  I could have had them all by myself.  Could have, but didn’t.  I have to be good somehow, right?  I was so good, I split a small, deformed one with my mom straight from the oven (for God’s sake, people, wait 5 minutes!  My tongue still hates me for that one! Hot apple chunks and boiling cinnamon sugar=searing pain…) and I had one more at dessert. 
Deliciousness, seriously. 

THE RECIPE'

as adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner?- original recipe here

Ingredients:

2 cups skim milk
1 tablespoon (.5 oz) active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 eggs
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
2 cups finely chopped tart apples

Directions:

Heat the milk in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for about one minute.  Add the yeast, then sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add two cups of flour and the salt and beat for a full two minutes. Add the softened butter and eggs and beat until the mixture is well combined. Add the rest of the flour, half a cup at a time, and beat thoroughly after each addition.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Knead the dough for five minutes, until it has become soft and elastic.

Put the dough in a large bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm area for 40 minutes. It will double in size.  You can also leave it in the covered bowl overnight, like I did.  It won’t hurt it. 

Combine the sugars, cinnamon, and apples in a large bowl.

 

Turn the dough onto the counter and roll it out 1/4” thick into a rectangular shape. Use a pastry brush to spread half of the butter over the surface.  Spread the cinnamon-sugar-apple mix over the dough, leaving a 1” border all around.

This is half the raised dough.  I had to do this in two parts b/c I didn’t have enough counter space to roll out all the dough.

I also didn’t leave 1” the first time around.  Oops.  That was messy. 

Starting on one of the long ends, carefully roll the dough over the filling and roll into log.  Cut the log into 24 pieces and place each inside one of the cups of a muffin tin lined with paper liners.  Cover the cupcakes with a towel and let them rise in a warm place for another 40 minutes.

Before:  

After:   

Preheat the oven to 350º. Brush the remaining butter evenly on the tops of the cupcakes and bake for 20 minutes. The tops will be a light golden brown.

LET THEM COOL!!!

Take them out and glaze.  I made a cinnamon cream cheese glaze.

I just beat one 8oz block of softened cream cheese with 1 cup powdered sugar, 1tsp vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of cinnamon until soft.  I added a little bit of heavy cream to thin it out a bit, but not too loose.  I should have added a bit more b/c I literally ran out of glaze for the last two, so I ended up putting less on those two. It’s ok, b/c they were deformed and mom and me split one and dad ate the other.  No one ever saw them.  :)

Okay, so Im not kidding.  Make these, please.  And have five for me…  It’s ok. You don’t gain the calories if they are for me.  I promise. 

Annoying little buggers

 

So we discovered an annyoing little problem in our house this past week.   And subsquently had to throw away all of our food in the pantry.  Yep, we had an infestation of pantry moths. 

I had NEVER heard of pantry moths before.  You see, we started noticing these itty bitty moths flying around and couldn’t for the life of us figure out where they were coming from.   They were so annoying, b/c they were everywhere. 

So finally, last week, mom was looking in the pantry for something anf looked up and saw dark spots all the way up top in the corner of the pantry.  She got on a step stool and realized they were all swarmed there.  Not all of them of course, but a lot. 

So she cleaned out the pantry and found more behind all the liquor (Note, we are not drinkers, but apparently we have more booze in the house than flour!).

So she proceededto take everything out of the pantry and clean it top to bottom.  But she didn’t really look at everything too closely.  She threw away what she thought was expired and then put everything back in, except for my shelf, she let me organize that. 

Well, that night I went to my SnB group and figured I’d just organize everything when I got home.  Then my lovely ladies proceeded to tell me they were in our food, not just hanging out in the corners of the walls!!! 

So I got home and researched them more, to see what food I needed to toss.  OMG.  Everything was tossed pretty much at that point.  They really like grains, so we likely got a batch of flour w/ tons of eggs in it, they hatched and grew to adult form and bam!  we got pantry moths.  Funny thing is, you see one, you will likely see more, so start moving right then!

The life cyle is egg, larvae, pupa and adult.  There is no way to really tell when we bought that bad batch b/c it took sometime to find the adults and mom has a tendancy to buy flour and stick it in the back of the pantry, but not put the old stuff in front of the new stuff.  Btw, we had like 6 things of flour in the pantry when I threw everything away last week. 

So the egg stage lasts about 7 days.  The eggs then hatch into larvae.  Those little wormie things.  They go through 5 stages of development in order to grow and then they leave to find a place to cocoon themselves.  They leave waste behind.  This process takes about 42-56 days.

Then the pupa stage.  This is when they turn themselves into a cocoon.  Thing about this stage is that they will do this anywhere, not just in the grains they feed on.  They will go under the cap of your dried herbs, the rim of a can, ANYWHERE.   Moth pupae are no more than 1/3 of an inch long and may be as small as 1/4 inch.  This takes aprx 20 days to complete.  If you see these anywhere, just toss it!!! 

Next is the lovely, noticable annoying adult stage.  The adult pantry moth has finished feeding and has only 1 mission: TO CREATE MORE MOTHS! Those moths will fly all over the house, looking for a mate. The female moth releases a pheromone to help the male moth locate her so that she can lay her eggs. Adult moths will only live 1 or 2 weeks because they don't feed as adults. But with the ability to lay 400 eggs at a time, they definitely are as gross as the little worms!

An adult moth is roughly half an inch, and is 5/8 of an inch with wings extended.  A Flour moth is grey and buff white with no hint of color.  That’s the most common from what I’ve read.  There are some Indian ones w/ red coloring, but I’ve never seen them. 

Getting rid of them and keeping them gone is a long process.  Chances are, you will have to throw everything away and start over.  I read that some will get into candy too, so all those toffee bits or chocolate chips?  Toss them!  The rims of cans and other jars that they aren’t attracted to could still have cocoons in them.  The eggs and larvae pretty much stay in grains and that’s just gross.  You want a dead worm in your cookies??? 

These guys aren’t harmful to you to ingest, but still, gross!!!! 

So start by throwing out all your grain.  You have no idea how easy it is for them to get into a closed-never opened-bag of flour or rice.  Grains include cereal, all flours, rice, pasta, crackers, etc. 

Then inspect everything else!  Check out the rims of the spice jars, the edges of your cans, EVERYTHING! 

Toss it if it has anything on it.  Rinse of the cans and jars if they look untouched and let them dry completely before putting them back in the pantry. 

Purchase pantry moth traps.  The grains and other items you toss will take care of the eggs and hopefully all of the larvae and pupa, unless they got into cracks and crevices in the walls.  The pantry traps will attract the male moths to keep them from mating with the female ones.  Swat at everything you see that doesn’t go in the traps. 

Don’t spread bay leaves all over, it’s a waste.  No Wrigley’s Spearamint gum b/c they love sugar and will feed off it.  Don’t use pesticides.  Those are bad in the kitchen!  When you clean the shelves and walls, use white vinegar.  Also, use the hose attachment on your vacuum and hold it near the cracks and holes in the walls to suck out anything that might have stashed itself in there. 

Purchase snapware containers.  Or whatever other similar containers you can find for your flour, sugar, cereal, nuts, chips, crackers, EVERYTHING!

I purchased these the very next day and already have newly purchased products in them:

This is in addition to the numerous snapware products I already own.   These aren’t all Snapware.  The cereal containers are, the second ones are from Lock & Lock and the third is Kinetic Go Green Premium Nano Silver 7 Piece Food Storage Container Set.  I’ll use those for dried fruit and nuts and such. 

When you are buying the food that these bugs infest, note a few things at the store.  One, don’t buy anything anywhere these bugs are flying around.  And tell the store manager if you see them.  If you see webbing on anything at the store, don’t buy it and tell a manager.  Do not buy these items in bulk!  If you aren’t going to use it that week, don’t get it.  There is no reason to have flour sitting around for nothing.  Especially if you have these things around. 

The last piece of advice I leave you with is to freeze all grains in the freezer for 48 hours.  This may not work well on crackers and cereal, so with those, buy as needed.  Don’t stock up on those things b/c they are on sale.  Don’t worry, there will be a coupon or sale somewhere again.  But flours, sugars, rice, pastas, all in the freezer for 48 hours.  This will kill all of the eggs that are hanging out in there.  But even if you do this for the 5 things of flour on sale, if you have one female moth still hanging around, it will lay eggs in the flour you just froze to kill and potential eggs already there.  So it was all for naught.  And please, put everything in well sealed containers!!!  Even jars can have these things hanging out in the treads. 

Like I said before, these aren’t harmful to your health, but they are annoying and gross.  And to get rid of everything is expensive!!! I threw away hundreds of dollars of flours, sugars, nuts, spices, herbs, rice, pastas, quinoa, couscous, and much more.  And I was very angry about it!!!! 

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year all!!! 

As you all know, I promised more posts this new year.  So here I am, in bed (I love you babes!!!), posting about one of my favorite Greek Orthodox traditions on the church. 

Vasilopita.  Vasilopita, literally translated to Basil pie or King pie (the word vasileus means king) is a delicious sweet bread that is served on New Years Day.  The bread is baked with a coin in it and the person who gets the slice with the coin is granted good luck and prosperity all year long.  This year, I was asked at my church to be a special recipient of a slice.  I didn't get it...  so sad cuz I never do, but hey, I don't need a coin to be prosperous right?  Although, I'm sure the luck of the church would be mighty helpful over the next few months... 

Anyways...

The tradition of the Vasilopita is associated with St. Basil, whose namesday we celebrated yesterday.  (Happy Namesday Mom and Uncle Basil!!!)

St. Basil called upon the citizens of a city called Kaesarea in Cappadokia, where he was Bishop, to raise a the taxes for the citizens of the city who were affected by a great famine.  Each member of the city gave whatever they had in gold and jewelry.  When the money was raised, the eparch of the province, who had demanded the taxes, despite the horrible famine, changed his mind and gave the jewelry back to St. Basil.  St. Basil then had to return the items, but since he did not know what went to each person, he baked all the jewelry into loaves of bread, and distributed the loaves to the city.  By some miracle, each family received their exact share back. 

So each year, we bake vasilopita, placing a coin in the dough before baking.  When I was younger, it was a gold coin, although nowadays, you're more likely to find a silver dollar, or if baked in large quantities, quarters. 

This year, my Thea Mary got the coin.  To be fair, I give pieces in order of age.  You don't know where the coin is, so you don't worry much about cheating.  :)
I bought my vasilopita from church this year, but I do have a tried and true recipe to share.  It is a delicious sweet bread that can most definitely be used for bread puddings, french toast, or just to have. 
Btw, this bread is a bread, not a cake.  There are vasilopita recipes that are a cake w/ no frosting, but this is definitely not one of those.  It is for sure a bread. 

Vasilopita

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups milk
1 Pkg active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
10 tbsp unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
halved and skinned almonds (or slivered) for topping

Directions:

Mix flour, salt and yeast. Set aside.

Heat the milk and water in the microwave for about a minute and half. 
Beat eggs well and add sugar until incorporated.  Cream egg/sugar mixture with the butter with an electric mixer.  Add the warmed milk and water, mix well. 
Gradually add flour mix. Mix thoroughly, but do not over mix.  This is meant to be a very soft bread. 
The dough should be soft and elastic.  If it is too sticky, add a little more, 1/4 cup at a time. 
Cover the mixing bowl with a thick towel.  Let rise until double, about an hour.  Don't place the bowl somewhere cool. 
Once it has doubled in size, punch it down and knead the dough. Add the coin to the dough***
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 10 inch springform pan with cooking spray.  Place the dough in the pan.
Cover the pan with a thick towel and let rise in a warm place until dough has nearly doubled.
Brush the top with the beaten egg. Press the halved almonds on the top of the bread, randomly or in a pretty design. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 mins. until top is a nice golden brown color.  Check it after 15 mins and if the top is browning too quickly, reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for longer.  Keep a close eye on it after 45 mins.  Some ovens are different, so you need to see how your oven works.  Our old oven is a lot different than our new one and I messed this up the first time in the new oven, so pay attention to how quickly your oven bakes.  Cool in pan for 10 mins, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.

***So some people may have a concern about placing a coin in the dough.  I will thoroughly clean the coin, and I mean thoroughly, with dish soap.  I usually let it sit in warm water, with dish soap in it before actually scrubbing it down.  Then I wrap the coin in a little bit of foil. I bake the foil wrapped coin in the bread.  It is definitely safe this way; this is how I, and most Greeks have been doing it for years.  :)
Happy New Year everyone!  I hope that every one's year is blessed with good times, lots of joy and love and lots of prosperity!!!  Even if you didn't get the coin!  :)

New Years Resolutions

I have never been one for making new years resolutions.  In fact, I’ve specifically stayed away from them because, in all honesty, I didn’t want to disappoint myself. 

I mean, really, how many people actually stick to the plan?

This year, I think I’m going to change that.  The last 6 months have been a mixture of busy-ness, lazy-ness and all around crazy-ness.  I started going to the gym, learned how to knit, crochet and make jewelery (well, earrings so far), started a new job, really got hardcore in the remodel, changed my eating habits, and well… you name it, I’m in it. The only thing I haven’t been doing much of is blogging.  I’ve got tons and tons of recipes tried and pictures to attach (well, as of today, when I finally got them off my camera-thank God!!!), but I have had no time, really, no desire, to sit on the computer to post them. 

Eek, me, have no desire to sit on the computer?!?!  Really though, let’s face it, 40 hours a week on the computer for work alone is way more than enough.  The second part of it is that my desktop is downstairs in the basement, where it is 20 degress colder and reeks of cigarette smoke.  Thanks Dad. 

I had grandeur ideas of moving my whole computer desktop, printer, speakers, desk, etc etc etc to my sisters old bedroom, but that was just more trouble than it was worth.

So this Christmas, my wonderful, adorable, sweet, patient, kind, sexy, smart, amazing boyfriend bought me a laptop.  A pink on at that.  I cried.  Really, I cried.  It was seriously the most thoughtful gift.  For me anyways.  I have wanted one and wanted one… but I didn’t have the money to be spending on myself.  Well, now i don;t have to b/c my love has done it for me. 

So now what does all of this have to do with new years resolutions??? 

Well many things.

One, despite thinking my love doesn’t listen or pay much attention to me, I was wrong.  I vow to stop assuming everything I say goes by unheard.  Just somethings.  ;)

Two, I promise that I will always remember that in the darkest moments, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  For those of you who don’t think a laptop counts as a light- well, I’m sure you have your little light that might confuse someone else, but this is mine. 

Three, I absolutely profess my undying, unconditional, unwavering love to my babes.  You may not think it, but you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I will not ever do anything to let you think I feel otherwise. 

Four, I swear I will get better with this eating and exercise thing…  Not trying to make excuses but there have been things holding me back from actually making a better go at this and I refuse to let them.  No more enabling!!!  Especially now that Christmas is over.  There is no reason to be making dozens upon dozens of cookies… and then eat half.  Okay, so not half of dozens, maybe just a half dozen in one day… Not good.  One is way more than enough. 

Five, I promise to be more patient and less nosy.  Dang, that’s gonna be hard.  Have I mentioned I am a Greek woman???

I’m gonna stop there b/c I feel like adding more now when I haven’t really thought them through would be wasteful. 

But I do promise you’ll be hearing more of me.  Now that I have this spiffy laptop, I have no excused not to spend an hour on it at night, in bed, with my Blackhawks Stanley Cup Champions snuggie, pink John Deere throw and ultra plush aloe infused socks.  Pink ones, of course.

So until the next post (I have to sort through my pics!!!), everyone remember this, you are only as strong as you let yourself be.  If you think you can, you can.  If you think you can’t, you’re wrong.  “I can’t” is in your head.  Get it out of your mind and vocab!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!