Category Archives: Cooking

Homemade Raspberry Sauce

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I am always looking for new recipes to try out. Since we often have someone come over during the week I am always looking for easy and simple recipes especially when it comes to dessert.

So when I found Pioneer Women’s Blackberry Cobbler I was happy – only five ingredients, easy instructions and an hour in the oven. I substituted the blackberry for raspberries and decided to serve the cobbler with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. Everyone happily ate it up!

The raspberry sauce I served the cobbler with was homemade. I love making sauces at home because you know exactly what is going into it with no extra hidden ingredients or preservatives.

Raspberry Sauce
Yields approximately 1 ½ cups

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
12 ounces raspberries

Place sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over high heat; stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and allow syrup to cool completely. Place raspberries and syrup in the jar of a blender; puree until smooth. Pour through a fine sieve or colander into a bowl; discard solids. Serve or store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

Waffles. Just cause.

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This recipe is nothing new. No invention of the wheel or an amazing new recipe made with a crazy new ingredient. Here lies a recipe for waffles. Use it for a breakfast, brunch or piled high with ice cream for a late night snack. Enjoy!

Waffles
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 cups water
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)
Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk to mix. Add water, egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in melted butter. Beat egg whites in another bowl until stiff peaks form, then fold into batter, half at a time. Keep folding until smooth. Pour into waffle iron and bake until golden brown.

Chicken Francese

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Chicken Francese
adapted from Tyler Florence
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
All-purpose flour, for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried Parsley, Oregano and thyme (I only had dried on hand)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 cup chicken broth
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Place flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt, pepper, parsley, oregano and thyme (seasoned to your preferred taste); mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs to make an egg wash. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.

Dip the chicken in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the chicken cutlets to a large platter. I usually place a paper towel on the platter to soak up the excess oil from the chicken.

Add the wine, broth, and lemon juice to a headed skillet. Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. Roll the butter in some flour and add it to the skillet – this will help to thicken the sauce. Stir to incorporate and dissolve the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to heat the chicken thoroughly.

I served my chicken with rice boiled in chicken stock (instead of water) and green beans! Enjoy!

Mexican comfort.

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My version of comfort food is anything Mexican.  Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, you name it.  Anything topped with salsa and avocado hits my sweet spot.  I generally end up reaching for some beans, spices and cheese when I want comfort.

Authentic Mexican food is a rich, enchanting mix of flavor, color and texture.  Garlic, onion, cilantro, oregano, cumin, and chili powder!  Oh My!

Here are a couple of recipes I have been dying to try!


Cheesy Double Bean Quesadillas with Homemade Avocado Ranch from How Sweet it Is


Chicken Chimichangas from Blog Chef


Cheesy Corn Cakes with Spicy Avocado Salsa from Simply Delicious


Chicken Enchilada Pizza from How Sweet it Is

Pinterest Fail!

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So I was in a rush the other day. My sister and her boyfriend were coming over for our weekly game night/movie night/drink a bottle of wine night. I made adorable mini meatloaves, mash potatoes, biscuits and veggies. I wanted to have a little dessert but didn’t have the time or the energy to make something elaborate. That is when Pinterest came into play.

I am constantly looking to Pinterest for ideas and saw a wonderful picture of brownie waffles. How cute I thought! How quick! How different!

I made the mix, sprayed the iron with PAM and popped the batter in.

Problem 1: I walked away (even thought it was only 3 minutes)
Problem 2: I placed a bit too much batter into the iron.
Problem 3: I was in a rush.
Problem 4: Please see picture.

Yikes! There was batter everywhere! Dribbling down the cabinet and on the floor!

I do take responsibility for this Pinterest fail. I am not sure if I will ever try it again, but the end result was cooked brownie pieces scraped off of the iron and a lot of mess to clean up. It was yummy, but not at all pretty.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Mr. Sweet & I were invited to dinner two Sunday’s ago. I am always one to bring something when invited over. Be it a bottle of wine for dinner, a six-pack for the game or dessert for after dinner.

I have had this Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte pinned on my “Sweet Tooth” board on Pinterest for months now. It’s the definition of decadent – a thick Oreo crust surrounds a fluffy peanut butter mousse with chocolate chips and peanuts sprinkled within and covered in a dark chocolate ganache topped with even more peanuts. Peanut butter and chocolate are good enough on their own and pretty unbeatable when they’re together.

At first glance, the recipe may seem a bit time-consuming and overwhelming. While there are several steps required to make this torte, they are simple and quite easy to do.

You can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook “Baking from My Home to Yours” or this adapted version on Annie’s Eats.

This dessert is rich and decadent. As in, take a tiny sliver. Addicting and delicious you are going to want to make it again and again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Note: Dorie’s cookbook is amazing! Give it a try. I have made Classic Banana Bundt Cake, Apples Muffins, Allspice Crumb Muffins and many more I haven’t blogged about.

Could there be a more perfect cookie in the world?

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I have been on the search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe since I started baking. It had to be out there somewhere – perfectly baked, perfectly formed & heaped with divine chocolate pieces.

Perfection in a cookie is a matter of individual preference. Each batch I have made over the years was slightly different. Different in proportions, chocolates, mixing methods, & even baking times were carefully controlled. I have searched for tips & tricks about creaming butters, types of sugar to use and egg handling. When to mix, how long to mix, when not to mix.

There were also variations. Thin & crispy with loads of buttery flavor. Soft & cake-y, dotted with dark chocolate chips. Or my personal favorite, irresistibly chewy & chock-full of gooey chocolate.

I believe my search has finally ended. I found Averie Cooks Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies recipe while browsing Pinterest. The day I found it I ran home to try it out. My sister & her boyfriend were coming by for dinner and I thought they would be the perfect guinea pigs.

Butter was creamed with brown & granulated sugar. Egg, vanilla and other ingredients were added. Flavors married while chilling. Dough was scooped & baked. After dinner I served the cookies with a tall glass of milk. Many bites happen, some moans might have ensued. More milk was poured & before we knew it the cookies were gone. Since that night I have made this recipe about a dozen or so times.

Could there be a more perfect cookie in the world? Maybe, but I really don’t think so.

Delightfully Living: Day 26 – Day 32

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365 photo project – the simple act of taking a picture every day for a year. The idea behind starting the project is for me to try to get myself to slow down and take a different look at the world. The series is called Delightfully Living. This is Day 26 – Day 32.

What you will see: moments of time, food, details of the world around me and things that I enjoy.

Day 26: Layla’s new thing is to take my “place” on the couch whenever I get up to get something. She knows she is just too cute for me to toss her off.

Day 27: Woke up to find pastries that my husband picked up at the local baker. He knows the way to his women’s heart!

Day 28: A batch of Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies made for an after dinner snack. (Blog post about those bad boys to come soon!)

Day 29: Slow cooker Minestrone Soup for a cold day. I love coming home to an already cooked meal.

Day 30: Took this picture on my way to work. Mr. Sweet says it belongs on the cover of a horror movie.

Day 31: The day was a bit overwhelming so I hid away during my lunch break and watched a bit of Battlestar Galactica.

Day 32: Layla was quite photogenic today!