Breakfast with Mom

So this is cheating..but mom came to Akron for some work and I stayed in her hotel room. This is what was delivered to us in the morning....that's right. Everyone be jealous!!
:) love you mama!

Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies

These are so amazing, and beautiful for Christmas with the coordinating colors!

1 1/4 c all purpose flour

1/3 c sugar

2 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c butter, cut up

1 tbsp red food coloring

3 oz white chocolate (coarsely chopped)

1 1/2 tsp shortening

Finely chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Cover an dprocess wiht o/off turns until combined. Add butter and red food coloring. Process with on/off turns until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Process until mixture formes a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough lightly until nearly smooth. Roll or pat dough to 1/2 inch thick. Using a floured 1 1/2 inch round cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press scraps together and re-roll.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until centers are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

In a heavy small saucepan, melt white chocolate and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate. If desired, sprinkle with pistachios. Let stand on waxed paper until set. Makes about 24 cookies.

Lemon Poppy Seed Biscotti

1/4 c butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 egg white

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 c all-purpse flour

2 tbsps poppy seeds

1 tbsp finely shredded lemon peel

Coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in the egg, the egg white, lemon juice, and vanilla until combined. Beat or stir in flour, poppy seeds, and lemon peel

Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into a 7x2 inch log. sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place logs aobut 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees. Transfer baked loaves to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place slices, sides down, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Turn slices over; bake 10-12 minutes more or until dry and crisp. Transfer cookies to wire rack; let cool.

Salted Peanut Bars

So, I have to apologize for the lack of posts...life has been sooo crazy in the new year. Ash in Med school, Amy applying for and getting in to med school...phew. I am updating some posts...try whatever you wanna!!

Salted Peanut Bars -- A thick, gooey layer of carmel goodness breathes new life into the salted nut candy bar!!!

1/2 c butter, softened

2/3 c packed brown sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

1 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c crushed pretzels

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 7-oz jar marshmallow creme

1/2 c creamy peanut butter

1/4 c powdered sugar

1 c salted coctail peanuts

1 14-oz pkg vanilla carmels, unwrapped

3 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with heavy foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan; set pan aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, egg yolks, and vinalla. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. In a small bowl, combine flour, pretxels, baking powder and baking soda. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden sppon, stir any remaining flour mixture. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, in a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine marshmallow creme and peanut butter. Microwave on 100% high power for 1 minute or until softened, and slightly melted. Stir in powdered sugar. Spread mixture over crust. Sprinkle with salted peanuts.

In a heavy large saucepan, combine unwrapped carmels and milk. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until carmels are melted and mixture is smooth. Pour caramel mixture evenly over peanut layer. Cool in pan on wire rack. Using the foil, lift the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into bars. Makes 48 bars.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Well, Natalie, Melissa, and I decided to go to a cooking class. Miami Dade Kendall Campus offers great classes (ie. sushi, italian cooking, cooking on a dime, etc). I highly recommend going! We went to the Tuscan Cooking class. We arrived, and were definitely the youngest cookers there by a long shot, so everyone told us what to do, but overall it was a fun time! Go out and take a cooking class! (or host one yourself!)

The first thing we made was VEAL SCALLOPINI. This was a fun adventure. It might be easier to cook them in some sort of muffin cup, because the melted cheese made it fall apart a bit.

Veal Scallopini Recipe:

First Layer --> Egg Plant

You will need 2 medium eggplants. Remove the stem from the eggplant and discard. Cut the eggplant horizontally into 1/4 inch slices. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt to remove the bitterness in the eggplant (do this on both sides!) Let the eggplant stand for 30 minutes, then rinse off the salt, dry the slices. Brush both sides with butter or olive oil, and broil for 1 minute on each side.

Second Layer --> Veal Cutlets

You will need 12 4-5 oz cutlets for this recipe. Melt 4 tbsp. butter and add 4 tbsp. olive oil. While this is heating, pound the veal to be very thin. Dredge veal in sifted flour with salt and pepper (could be delicious to add some italian seasoning, orgeano, parsley, etc to this flour dredge), and sautee for 1 minute on each side.

Third Layer --> Mozzarella cheese

You will need 12 1/4" slices for this recipe

Fourth Layer --> Proscuitto Ham

You will need 12 thinly sliced pieces of this meat. Sautee lightly for 30 seconds on each side, just until crispy

Fifth Layer --> Mushroom Caps

We cut designs into the caps, but when we cooked this, the mushrooms were not cooked. We recommend sauteeing the caps first, so they are cooked, and then top the scallopini.

Sixth Layer --> Sauce

Melt 6 tbsp. butter in a skillet, and add 2/3 c minced shallots. Sautee for 3-5 minutes. Pour in 2/3 c dry white wine, 2/3 c beef stock, 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp minced parcley, and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tbsp sifted flour over sauce and stir sauce until sauce thickens slightly.

Structure --> Assemble all the ingredients in the order provided. Pour sauce over top of the structures, and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

This was delicious, but a little salty, so do not add salt to anything. The proscuitto will add enough salt flavor for the entire dish!

We also made a great PESTO SAUCE that we put on top of toasted italian bread. Everyone was grabbing spoons, and eating this out of the food processor. It would be amazing to make and freeze and just use when you needed something fast!

Pesto Recipe:

6 cloves garlic, chopped

3/4 c roasted pine nuts

1 c grated parmigiano cheese

3 c sweet basil leaves, chopped

1 c oregano leaves, chopped

1 tbsp. rosemary leaves

2 c flat leaf parsley

1 c olive oil

1 tsp. pepper

Blend all ingredients in a food processor while slowly adding the olive oil in as you process. So yummy! We put this on pasta too, to go with the entree.

Lastly, we made a fruit salad. This went so fast that we didn't get a picture of it, but it was sooooooo good! I dare you to try it!

Macedonia Di Frutta

1 canteloupe

1 honeydue

3 apples

4 bananas

1 pineapple

1 pint of strawberries

1 cup sugar

1 1/3 c orange juice

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1 c Kirsch Liquor

Cut everything relatively the same size. Let marinate for about an hour, so everything tastes yummy!

Playing with Pumpkin

So Ashley's Pumpkin Pie inspired me, so I made whoopee pies!! I didn't have one, because everyone at work ate them all, so I assume they were delicious!

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies

Pies:

3 c all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. ground cloves

1 c veggie oil

2 c packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

3 c chilled pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. In a seporate bowl, whisk the brown sugar and oil together. Add pumpkin until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add flour mix to wet mix, and whisk until smooth. Drop scoops of mix on the cookie sheet. These do not spread too much, so they don't have to be seporated too much. Cook for 10-12 minutes.

Cream Cheese Filling:

3 c confectioner's sugar

1/2 c butter (room temp)

8 oz cream cheese (room temp)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream all ingredients together. Once the pies are completely cool, spread about a tablespoon of cream filling and top with another pie. Sooo good!

punkin pie ;)

MMM....pumpkin pie! its that time of year!






















I cheated big time on this one...i just followed the directions on the can of pumpkin...i know one person that enjoyed it!! :) and it looks pretty