My Birthday…

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Michie

I had a birthday just a few days ago (I’m 29, again, tyvm :P ), and had a lovely day.

My day started out with my son singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me over the phone — It was the sweetest sound to my ears. I received flowers and a cake (thank you, Ang!!), lots of messages, emails, Happy Birthday in ASCII in more ways than I knew could exist, text messages, and, quite funnily, a singing video message from Mark & Al, who are still in Africa, and a gift subscription to Cooks Illustrated (thank you, you know who!!). It was the first birthday I can remember where I just enjoyed myself. Thank you to everyone who made my day such a nice one.

My son gave me something I had really been missing. When we moved to this apartment last May, my stick blender was dropped down 15 concrete stairs, and landed in a bunch of pieces. I kept saying since then I’d pick up another one and hadn’t gotten around to it. image

He chose such a nice one to give me. It’s a Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender. Moreover, it comes with attachments!!!!! (wooties! ….. The stick blender, a whisk and a mini-food processor/chopper, and a .5 Liter mixing cup. The motor is 200 watts; the body and the stick blender stainless steel, and it’s a one handed on/off — you’ve got to hold the button to keep it on — once you let go, the unit turns off.

I unwrapped the box, and within 10 minutes, we had our coats and shoes on, and were on our way to the market for yogurt and bananas. We were supposed to make a birthday cake, but skipped it totally — the banana smoothies (yogurt, milk and bananas), were ever so much better.

I’ve only had this a few days, and already see how much fun this will be to have. We’ve made smoothies, ice cream milk shakes, (ice cream cocktails), and this evening, I made a peach syrup for breakfast tomorrow.

Tbh, I don’t know how often I’ll use the whisk attachment, but I’m absolutely positive that the chopper as well as the stick blender will be in constant use. I’m looking forward to making soups, purees and dressings, and a heck of a lot more yogurt/fruit smoothies.

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Crunchy Nutella Hazelnut Chocolate Bars

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Michie

There really is such a thing as heaven in your mouth, and when you taste these, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

I always make these around the holidays, and this year will be no different.  This time I’ll take them to work and let everyone enjoy them….so I don’t end up eating them all ;)

This recipe is actually a variation of another recipe.  The original recipe called for peanut butter and peanuts, instead of Nutella and hazelnuts. (See here for the original recipe), but though that one is great, this is just.. amazingly yummy.  It’s always the first thing to go, and people are always asking for the recipe.

Enjoy!!

 

Crunchy Nutella Hazelnut Chocolate Bars

2 cups Nutella
4 cups powdered sugar (10x sugar or icing sugar)
1/2 cup butter
3 cups of a crunchy cereal, like rice chex
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts

In either a sauce pan, or the microwave, melt 1/2 cup of butter and set aside.

Mix the Nutella and powdered sugar.  Add in the melted butter and mix well.

Fold in the cereal, and then spread evenly in a cake sized pan (13×9). 

In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips, and spread over the Nutella mixture. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.

Allow to cool well, and then cut into squares.

This keeps for about a week, in a tightly covered container.

 

Notes:

There are lots of variations to this recipe.. for example, use cashew butter or another nut butter.  If using cashews, use chopped cashews in place of the peanuts. 

And of course, there is the traditional peanut butter and peanut recipe as well.

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Peanut Butter Fudge

Posted on December 2, 2007 by Michie

Peanut Butter Fudge

3 Cups Sugar
3/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk
1 Cup Peanut Butter (Crunchy is optional)
10 Oz Marshmallow Cream
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Grease an 8×8 baking dish

In a large mixing bowl, put peanut butter, marshmello cream and vanilla.  Set aside.

Put sugar, butter and milk in a pan and turn heat to high, stiring constantly.  Once at a full boil (bubbles in from outside edges to center for 1 minute), turn heat to simmer (keeping bubbles going lightly) and cook for 5-6 minutes.  If using a candy therm, heat to soft ball stage (240F).

Once time is up, pour over peanut butter, marshmello cream and vanilla,  stiring quickly to mix well.  Once well mixed, pour into your pre-greased 8×8 pan.  Sprinkle with salted peanuts and allow to cool before cutting.

Optional:

Use ‘chunky’ peanut butter

Mix in 1/3 cup peanuts

Variation:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge:
Make a batch of regular chocolate fudge, using two 8×8 pans, pouring half of the fudge into each pan, sprinkle with peanuts.  Allow to cool.  Make a batch of this peanut butter fudge and pour half over each chocolate fudge.  Allow to cool.

Note: 

This recipe does not work well with ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ peanut butters unless well mixed.  I just end up using ‘Jif’ or ‘Skippy’.

* Marshmello cream seems to come in 7oz or 16oz containers.  I usually weigh the cream on a scale.

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Italian Sausage and Orzo Soup

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Michie

I was in the mood for something /other/ than turkey tonight.  I’ve cooked a couple of turkeys over the past few weeks, and well, I’m just a bit tired of it ;)

This recipe serves 6 easily, so I halved it for tonight’s dinner.  I also didn’t have any fresh parsley nor basil, so I used the dried I had in the cupboard.  I used 1/4 teaspoon of each.  I should have used 1 teaspoon of basil.  Add it in about 10-15 minutes before you are ready to serve, so the herbs have time to re-hydrate, and flavor the soup.

Enjoy!image

 

 

For those that are not familiar with orzo, it is a regular semolina pasta, shaped like rice, but not made from rice.

 

Sausage and Orzo Soup

1 pound of Italian sausage
2 carrots, shredded or grated
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 can of tomatoes, chopped (with the juice)(a 28 oz can)
6 cups of chicken stock (if not making your own, use low-sodium)
1/2 cup orzo pasta
1/4 cup parsley (Italian, if possible), chopped
1/4 cup basil, cut in chiffonade
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste

In your soup pot, cook the sausage until browned and then remove, cutting into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces.

Add the carrots, onion, garlic and celery and sauté.  There is usually enough oil left in the pan from the sausage, but if not, add a tablespoon.  Once the vegetables are sauteed, add the tomatoes and chicken stock, and simmer on medium for 15-20 minutes.

Return the sausage to the pot and continue to simmer.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo until it’s al-dente.

Add the parsley, salt & pepper, and red pepper flakes. 

Serve soup over the orzo, and garnish with the fresh basil.

You can also cook the orzo in the soup, if you like.  There is enough liquid to allow for the cooking.  After you put the sausage back into the pot, add the orzo and cook about 20 minutes on a low boil, until the orzo is done. 

Notes:

If you cook the pasta in a different pot, you’ll be able to freeze this soup easily.  Also, if you don’t add the pasta to the soup, it will not absorb all the broth of the soup.

If you don’t have orzo pasta, use your favorite rice.  This is really good with wild rice.

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Cheesecake Brownies – Quick and Easy

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Michie

Okay.. first off.. I don’t normally make brownies from scratch.  Yes, that’s lazy.  But, really, I am not a brownie aficionado and I can get by on a $2.00 package of mix.

However..there are a few things that I do like, and one is ‘cheesecake brownies’.  There are overly complicated ways to make this from scratch, but this recipe is the simplest one I’ve seen, and it always tastes great.

There are literally tons of recipes for these, but to me, this is the easiest ;)

Enjoy!

Easy Cheesecake Brownies

1 package (20.5 ounces) brownie mix * see below
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts – walnuts or pecans

Mix the brownie mix according to the directions on the package.  Spread in a greased cake pan (13×9 size pan). 

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, and then add sugar, egg and vanilla, and mix just until blended.  Mix in nuts. Don’t over mix, or it will have too much air, and will collapse once it bakes.

Pour the cream cheese mix over the brownie mixture.  You can run a fork or knife through the mix to give it a ‘marbled’ effect, which looks pretty cool.

Put cake pan in a preheated 350F oven and bake between 35 & 40 minutes, or until the cream cheese is lightly browned.  Cool completely, and then cut into squares.

* Don’t use the ‘added syrup’ type brownies mixes – it gets too gooey and won’t stand up properly.

Notes:

Before the brownies have cooled, and you have cut them, spread raspberry jam over top — divinely yummy.

I like the Ghirardelli brand of brownie mix the best. Krusteaz is the company that makes this brand — (I love their pancake mix, and their Lemon Bar mix (the optional way to make it with cream cheese….ohhh.. yummy stuff).

  There are a lot of other things you can do with pre-packaged brownie mixes:

  • Add 1/2 cup of peanut butter and 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts.
  • Mix in the tiny marshmallows and walnuts for a ‘rocky road’ type of brownie.
  • Add in a cup of chocolate chips – I like the milk chocolate version
  • Add in a cup of mini M&Ms.
  • Add in 2-3 tablespoons of instant coffee to the mix
  • Use macadamia nuts instead of the traditional walnuts or pecans
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Baked Applesauce

Posted on November 24, 2007 by Michie

I was in the mood tonight for something sweet, and having a bunch of apples left, I decided to make applesauce.

There must be at least a dozen different recipes in my collection of recipe cards for applesauce.  How to can it, how to make and freeze it, applesauce with raisins and nuts, baked applesauce with 1 cup!!! of lemon juice, and on and on.

This recipe, however, is one of my favorites – simple and easy to do.  It’s great cold, but, in opinion, even better warm, and served over vanilla ice cream ;)

You can really make this with any apples you happen to have on hand, but if you get a chance, do try Gala, Fiji or Breaburn apples – they break down easily, and bake up well.

Enjoy!

 

Gala Apple

 

Baked Applesauce

5 tablespoons water
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh if possible
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 pounds apples – cored, peeled and sliced

Mix water, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Add in apples and stir well to coat them. 

You can use a dutch oven if you have one, or just a standard cake pan.  However, if you are going to use a cake pan, cover the cake pan with aluminum foil, and then place on a baking sheet. 

Place the apples in a pre-heated 375F oven, and bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the apples are tender.  Stir once, midway through cooking.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. 

Now.. you can do a few things here..

1.  You can put the apples through a foodmill, or pulse a couple of times in a food masherprocessor, creating a smooth puree.

2. Using a potato masher (like the one right),  just mash the apples.  I like this method, because …. I don’t have a foodmill, nor a food processor, and I do like the texture of the apples this way.

3. Leave them alone — don’t mash or puree them.

You can keep this refrigerated for up to 3 days, or freeze in an airtight container for about one month. 

 

Notes:

You can leave out the brown sugar, if you are so inclined, or use the  Splenda Brown Sugar substitute, which is pretty good.

Serve this warm over ice cream – vanilla is good, but it also is great with chocolate.

Make an applesauce milkshake — use 1 cup of chilled applesauce and 1 cup of milk, mix well in your blender and serve.

Contents

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