Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie

Mention comfort food and chicken pot pie immediately comes to my mind. When it comes to homemade chicken pot pie I grew up on biscuit topped chicken pot pie, which happens to not be my favorite, so it was quite a few years before I decided to make my own. I love a flaky buttery pie crust outside to surround the vegetables, tender chicken and creamy filling. I can never decide which part I like better though, the crust or the filling. It's okay to like them equally though isn't it? I am a firm believer that I should make most everything from scratch atleast once. Notice, I said most everything. I came up with Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie totally off the cuff one day a couple years back and it was so good and so easy peasy, pun intended that I just haven't seen the need to mess with a good thing. If my Big, Bad Dad aka Mr. Picky Eater, who happens to be a huge chicken pot pie fan likes my easy peasy version enough to request it I must be doing something right. Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie 1 package deep-dish pie crust (2 crusts) 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 can mixed vegetables 1/2 cup milk 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed Preheat oven as instructed on pie crust package. In a medium bowl, mix together soup, mixed vegetables, milk, and chicken. Stir until combined. Pour into pie crust. Place second crust on top. Pinch edges together. Cut several slits in center of crust. Bake as directed for double crust pie, or until crust is golden brown. *You may find that you need more or even a little less milk - some brands of mixed vegetables seem to have more liquid than others. Just make sure your filling is pouring consistency but not runny. I highly recommend placing the pie on a baking sheet before baking to avoid having the ingredients bubble over into the oven. Talk about a mess!

Good Tastin' and Good Lookin'

I'm pulling one from the archives with this recipe. Ask me why I haven't shared these muffins with y'all yet and I couldn't tell you, let alone could I explain why I haven't baked them since that first time way back when. Perhaps it's my curiousity and endless search for something better that's kept them from being a repeat. I love a good blueberry muffin. The sweetness mixed with the slight tartness of the blueberries. Paired with a cup of coffee you've got the perfect breakfast, but accompanied by a glass of milk you've also got a great afternoon snack. I haven't eaten these blueberry muffins in a long while, but I don't know off hand of anyway they could be improved upon, unless you add a sprinkling of struesel on top, but that would take away from the picture perfectness of these "Really Good Blueberry Muffins". Maybe it's the baker in me paired with the blogger in me, but I find eminent satisfaction in those times when I bake something that is not only delicious but also makes you say, "Wow, that looks good!" And, I think this is one of those recipes. Unfortunately, I have no idea the original source. But, I'm thinking I may have possibly gotten the recipe from The Ultimate Muffin Book, I can't swear to it though. Regardless, if you like blueberry muffins, give these a try. Really Good Blueberry Muffins 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/2 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. packed brown sugar 3/4 c. milk 1 egg 1 3/4 c. flour 1 tsp cinnamon 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 c. blueberries 2 Tbsp flour Sift together (1 3/4 cup) flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg and milk until smooth. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix just until moist. Lightly toss blueberries with 2 Tbsp flour, and gently fold into batter. Fill well-greased or paper lined muffin tins nearly full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Culinarily Obsessed Pizza Kitchen Open For Business

Everybody loves pizza right? Seriously, I don't think I know a single person who doesn't admit they love pizza. Even the picky eaters I know enjoy cheese pizza at the very least. Me? I can't say I enjoy cheese pizza, but I love it pretty much any other way. Top it with every meat you can think of, I'm in. Just pepperoni? I'm not shy to grab the first slice. You're offering up a supreme? Yum-o! I'm a Carolina girl through and through so I know nothing of that whole NY vs Chicago thing, but give me a slice of each and I'll gladly do a taste test. My most favoritest kind though is hands down barbeque chicken pizza. I can't be sure but I think the famed California Pizza Kitchen may be to credit for the delicious creation. That's definitely where I tried and fell in love with the stuff. But since I live not so close to a CPK and the only one remotely local is in the mall, which everyone knows is a dangerous place for a woman, I figured it best to star making my own. I haven't tried my version next to the CPK version of barbeque chicken pizza, but from my mouth-watering memories my version tastes pretty darn close. The best part? Besides that I'm saving money and potentially serious credit card debt, my Barbeque Chicken Pizza is easy peasy. Somehow even with my serious cookbook addiction I didn't know that California Pizza Kitchen had their own cookbook, but turns out they do. You can preview excerpts of the book on Amazon, so if you love pizza go check out what mouthwatering recipes you can make at home from The CPK Cookbook. And it turns out they've got a new cookbook geared toward family cooking due out in August called California Pizza Kitchen Family Cookbook The ingredients Going in the oven! Can we dig in already? BBQ Chicken Pizza 1 pre-made pizza dough (I suggest Pillsbury in with the refrigerated canned biscuits) 1/4 c bottled barbeque sauce (more or less to suit your taste) 1/2 of small thinly sliced onion pre-cooked chicken, cut into bite size chunks 1-1 1/2 c shredded italian blend or pizza cheese Preheat oven according to dough directions. Grease or spray pan with non-stick spray. Flatten dough into pan, pinching up slight edges. Spread barbeque sauce evenly onto dough using just enough for a thin layer, be careful not to go all the way to edge of dough. Spread chicken pieces evenly over sauced dough, top with cheese. Scatter onion over cheese. Bake according to dough package instructions. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Ok, did I just use two Rachael Rayisms in one post? And I'm not even a fan! That should tell you how much I love this pizza.

Nutty for Cookies

With my ginormous sweet tooth I love, love, love cookies. The choco-holic in me tends toward chocolate chip cookies, especially MY chocolate chip cookies. My Big Bad Dad aka Mr. Picky Eater on the other hand is a sucker for peanut butter cookies. He doesn't have nearly the sweet tooth that I have, but when there's peanut butter cookies in the house he can't walk by the jar without eating one. I dig the cute little criss-cross pattern that you see on almost all peanut butter cookies, but I don't like that crumbly texture that many peanut butter cookie recipes yield. So, long ago I decided that if they're going to be the much requested cookie around our house I need to find a recipe that suits me. After numerous tries, all of which were edible, some I considered promising even, but most of which weren't worth blogging or making a second time, I found the one. From the tempting dessert cookbook Caprial's Desserts I tried and loved Caprial's mom's peanut butter cookie recipe. The cookies are sweet, soft and chewy. They're totally F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S I tell ya. The only change I made was to add a cup of peanut butter chips, which for us is a must in any peanut butter cookie. I've been making these cookies for some time now, several years probably, and have been meaning to blog them, but slacked off and never did. My apologies for depriving you lovely readers of such delicious cookies. And my thanks to Marco for prodding me for this recipe, thus prompting me to get off my butt and share it with everything. Doubley Peanut Buttery Peanut Butter Cookies 1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup peanut butter (NOT natural and I prefer chunky) 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup peanut butter chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a mixer and beat on high, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla, then add the peanut butter and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low until all ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth. Stir in peanut butter chips. Using a tablespoon or a small ice cream scoop, form the dough into 1/2 inch balls and place on the prepared pan. Flatten dough balls with a fork. Bake just until golden brown about 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Yield: approximately 48 cookies

A Pearl Of A Snack

Looking for a super simple and highly addictive snack? Oh baby have I found one! Ranch Oyster Crackers are on the list as a must-make munchie for my next soiree. Aside from the 20 minute bake time, these tasty little nibbles took about 5 minutes to make, and I spent less than $5 on the ingredients. What's not to love about a snack like that? And to boot, the crackers are relatively low fat. I omitted the dill weed and the lemon pepper, and cut back on the oil a smidge, and this little snack came out great. Ranch Oyster Crackers 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper (optional) 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional) 5 cups oyster crackers Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). In a large mixing bowl, combine ranch dressing mix, dill weed, vegetable oil, lemon pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well. Add oyster crackers to the mixture and mix to coat the crackers. Pour the crackers onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring gently halfway through the baking time.

No Pudge Fudge Pie

I'm reaching waaaay into the archives with this recipe. It's one I definitely haven't made in a long time, so you won't find many vivid adjectives to desccribe this pie, but trust me it was GOOD! If you're a regular around here you know I've got a killer sweet tooth, and I'm a serious chocaholic. I don't experiment with the lower fat, more guiltless versions of recipes as much as I should, but you'll catch a few guiltless recipes around here from time to time. This yummy chocolate pie is one of those recipes. I found this recipe for Low-Fat Chocolate Fudge Pie on the Cooking Light website. I keep the recipe as written, with one minor change - instead of whipped cream, I wanted to top the pie off with some delicious, fluffy meringue. I love whipped cream, but the meringue was absolutely the perfect touch. Low-Fat Chocolate Fudge Pie 1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury) 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 3/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk 1/3 cup light-colored corn syrup 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2 large egg whites 1 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed* 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa (optional) *Substitute whipped topping for 1 recipe meringue (see recipe below) Preheat oven to 350°. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold edges under; flute. Place pie plate in freezer until ready to use. Combine brown sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, and flour in a large bowl. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients (milk through egg whites); stir with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to brown sugar mixture; stir until combined. Pour mixture into crust. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until just set. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Cover; chill at least 4 hours. Spread whipped topping evenly over filling; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon cocoa, if desired. (Or top with prepared meringue.) Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge) FAT 8.6g per slice Meringue 3 egg whites 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 3/4 cup white sugar In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks. To bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Bake pie in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Snickety Snickerdoodles

I'm a sucker for a good cookie, and I'm always craving the adventure of a new recipe. I remember eating snickerdoodles as a kid, but my experience with them was minimal. Snickerdoodles just weren't a cookie we had around my house. I remember them as buttery, soft and chewy with a wonderful crispness on the outside from the cinnamon sugar that coats them. I've seen the recipe for "Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles" over and over on allrecipes. When I see a recipe with a high rating from a huge number of people I figure it's probably pretty good and worth giving a try. Overall I was pretty happy, they had a nice flavor, but weren't as buttery as I would like. I made an adjustment to the cinnamon sugar mixture. When mixing it looked like there wasn't nearly enough sugar so I doubled the amount and found that was perfect for me. I also refrigerated the dough for about 30 minutes before prepping it for the oven, since I was going to be rolling it in my hands I thought that would be a good idea. Snickety Snickerdoodles 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons white sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets to cooling rack. Makes approximately 48 cookies

Reliving Christmas

It's weird, I don't drink eggnog, don't like it one bit. But last Christmas a friend's wife sent over a big plate of various cookies, most were edible but nothing to die for. Except one cookie really stuck out with me, and that was the Eggnog Cookie. I had never had these before or even heard of them, and when it came time to plan my baking schedule this past Christmas I knew I had to make some Eggnog Cookies. I wasn't able to get the recipe from said friend, so I searched the web and when I came up empty handed I enlisted the help of my friends over on the Bakespace forum, and was given the perfect recipe. The original cookie had icing, but the recipe from Bakespace did not so I figured I could wing it and come up with my own icing, but after baking the cookies and doing a tastetest I nixed the icing idea because the cookies were so good as is. These Eggnog Cookies, are not your average cookie. They're soft and a little cakey, not chewy or crispy at all. Not typically what I go for, but these are great, and I love the hint of spice with that extra boost from the nutmeg sprinkled on top. And if you manage to keep these cookies around for more than a few days you'll be fooled into thinking you just baked them because they keep their freshness well. Don't forget to add these to your "must bake" list for next Christmas! EGGNOG COOKIES 2 ½ c. flour 1 t. baking powder ½ t. cinnamon ½ t. nutmeg 3/4 c. butter 1 1/4 c. sugar ½ c. eggnog 1 t. vanilla 2 egg yolks 1 T. nutmeg, for sprinkling Preheat oven to 300°. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar; add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Stir flour mixture into eggnog mixture until uniform. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet; sprinkle cookies lightly with nutmeg. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.

Biscotti Brings Me Back

Hello? Anybody out there? After all my time away, quite possibly not, but I'll cross my fingers that someone is still reading my little ol blog. There has obviously been no blogging for quite some time, but amid the fiascos that are my life, I have continued to bake, and bake some delicious things I have! Bear with me, and I promise to do my best to catch everyone up on my baking adventures, and mix in a few stories about my crazy life. Christmas, which is when I went on my most recent blogging hiatus, was of course filled with many day long kitchen adventures. One of my favorite new recipes, which I included in my foodie gift bags, is this Coconut Biscotti recipe. I love, love, love biscotti, and I think this is my new favorite. The coconut flavor is not overpowering, it's just right. I found myself sneaking one of these every morning with my coffee until suddenly there were no more. Thankfully the biscotti are pretty low fat, so I wasn't too ridden with guilt. Coconut Biscotti From Cooking Light 2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut Preheat oven to 300°. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through nutmeg). Place sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until thick. Add flour mixture and coconut; stir to combine (dough will be very sticky). Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 7 or 8 times. Shape dough into a 15 x 3-inch roll. Place roll on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and pat to 1-inch thickness. Bake at 300° for 40 minutes or until roll is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Cut roll diagonally into 20 (1/2-inch-thick) slices; stand slices upright on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire rack. Yield 20 cookies (serving size: 1 biscotto) 2.5 grams of fat *The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups flour, but the dough was entirely too sticky.

Black Bottom Goodness

I tasted my first ever black bottom cupcake when I baked up a batch several months ago. The earlier version was covered in chocolate glaze and known by another name, cream cheese-stuffed chocolate cupcakes. From that first cupcake I knew I was a fan. Chocolate, cake in the form of a cupcake, and cream cheese, what isn't to love? This recipe got rave reviews on allrecipes, and truly couldn't have been easier. The recipe as it appears on allrecipes yields twice as much cream cheese filling as it does cake batter, so through trial I ended up making two batches of cake batter. Next time? I'll just make one double batch. Even with a double batch of cupcake batter, which ends up with about 30 cupcakes you still have a generous amount of filling in each cupcake. They were delish the first day, but after refrigerating them over night I thought they were even better. I don't know what it is, but something about cold chocolate cake, all moist and dense, it's hard to resist. Yum! Black Bottom Cupcakes Filling 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 egg 1/3 cup white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips Cake Batter 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cup water 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoon cider vinegar 2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

A Daring Baker I Am!

So I've seen this cute little logo on lots of blogs for months now and always wondered what it was. Turns out there's this really cool group called the Daring Bakers. And now I'm one too! I've completed my first DB challenge and really enjoyed it. The assigned recipe for November was potato bread. I've baked a few loaves of yeast bread here and there, but I've got minimal experience especially when it comes to the whole kneading by hand thing. I find the thought of kneading by hand to be the most intimidating part of bread baking. I always worry that I won't have enough flour, or I'll have too much and I won't knead enough, or I'll knead too much and the bread will be tough. Well I decided to suck it up and just give it a try. The bread was good, but I didn't love it. Maybe that was due to my lack of experience or maybe I would just prefer a different type of bread? Your guess is as good as mine. I chose to make a standard loaf of "sandwich bread" and a loaf of focaccia, and I was most pleased with the focaccia. I'm open to any tips or suggestions you experienced bread bakers have. Stay tuned for next month's Daring Baker challenge!

Gobble 'Til You Wobble

Well, the turkey is in the fridge waiting to meet it's fate of being the delicious centerpiece to our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow, cornbread is in the oven - step one of making the dressing. And to top that off, the house if filled with the aroma of freshly baked sweet potato pies. I'm not sure what I look forward to more, the baking and cooking that lead up to Thanksgiving or actually getting to eat all the food, glorious food. It's a tough call. And whatever you do, please don't dare ask me what my favorite part of the meal is because I have no idea. From my kitchen to yours, I want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. And please, whatever you do, gobble 'til you wobble folks. I know I will.

Yummy Spicy Goodness

Once the Halloween decorations are taken down and we begin talk of turkey my food cravings change, as do my baking habits. I begin to crave warm, hearty stick to your ribs comfort foods. And I put the chocolate chip cookie recipe aside for a while. I put the brownie and cupcake making on the back burner momentarily, and I start making gingersnaps, soft and chewy they are sooo good! Come Thanksgiving and my house is filled with the wonderful smell of sweet potato pies. And lest we not forget my famous boiled oatmeal cookies, and there's always a batch of gingerbread or two in there somewhere. I got a jumpstart on the gingerbread baking this week. I don't have a tried and true recipe yet so I went to my standby, allrecipes. Overall I was pretty pleased with the recipe. It made a nice moist gingerbread with a good flavor, I think the spice amounts could benefit from being tweaked. I also prefer my gingerbread with lemon sauce, but I thoughtlessly forgot to buy lemons, and my craving wouldn't allow me to wait for the sauce so I decided to take my gingerbread straight up this time. Old Fashioned Gingerbread 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter 1 egg 1 cup molasses 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup hot water Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour (I found mine was done after baking for approximately 35 minutes.) in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

Halloween, The Recap

With all three of my children covered in fur and having four legs there was no trick-or-treating for us this year. There was also sadly no dressing up simply because I never found just the perfect costumes for my boys, and believe me, I searched. There is also an on-going debate in our house as to whether putting clothing on a dog for any reason other than warmth is appropriate. I say there are certain circumstances where it is suitable, such as they just look to freakin adorable not to dress them up. The Big Bad Dad? He has his feet firmly planted in the belief that dressing up a dog for more than warmth is completely stupid and degrading. Psssh, whateva. So, we were sans costumes and opted not to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. And before you even think it. NO. I'm not the Grinch who stole Halloween. Having the doorbell ring and opening the door every five seconds would be pure and total chaos in my house. We would have had to lock the kids in their rooms in an effort to keep them from licking the trick-or-treaters to death. And Duncan. Well, let's just say Duncan would have lovingly stolen candy from each and every child who rang our doorbell. I had to get in on the holiday somehow though, and ever being the baker I use every occassion possible to whip up something sweet. I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes with buttercream, and some sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. All of which were old standby recipes, no experiments, but as my Big, Bad Dad says, sometimes ya just gotta leave well enough alone. So that I did. My weeks have been busy, looking back, I can never seem to remember with what, but nonetheless all my projects seem to leave me short on time lately, the cookies and the cupcakes included so they didn't turn out to be my most adorable or my most creative. But they tasted great and still received high praises.

It's a boy!

After months of uber lovin and sometimes total chaos I think it's about time I share with you, my blogging buddies, the newest adventure in my life... His name is Duncan, and although he's now more than three times the size he was in this photo, I look at his precious face everyday and remember him just as he was the day we brought him home, an innocent little ball of fur. My entire life I've always, and I mean always had dogs. But I've never had a big dog, and I've always wanted a Labrador. I really fell in love with them this past winter during my two month long hospital stay. One of the things that helped me through those many long days were the therapy dogs, several of which were Retrievers, which occassionally came by my room for a visit, along with that, the thoughts of one day finally returning home to my two dogs. Upon returning home and slowly getting back on my feet, eventhough I was reunited with Sammy and Stumpy who I love more than I can even explain, my life still seemed to lack something, and as I tried to search and figure out what that was my thoughts always went back to those visits with the therapy dogs in the hospital. I knew I needed a Lab. And that's where Duncan came in. After much searching we found him about a week after he was born. I held him before he was even able to open his eyes, but I knew I couldn't let him go, I was in love. Because he was so young, it was over a month before we could finally bring him home to join the family. Finally, he's here now, and I couldn't be happier. Duncan may have four legs and be covered in fur, but yanno what? He's my son and there is no doubt I'm his Momma. He's so smart, curious and full of energy. Sometimes he's almost more than I can handle, and I get so frustrated I want to either scream or cry, but that's how motherhood goes right? And can I just say, the boy's got good taste in shoes!! I figured since this is a food blog, while I'm being a doting mother I would share with the dog owners out there an easy treat for your fur-covered little ones. Good Dog Cookies 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 cubes beef bouillon 3/4 cup boiling water 2 tablespoons brown sugar Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water and allow to cool. Combine flour, dry milk, egg, oil, beef broth and brown sugar. Mix well and knead dough for 1 minute. On a floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out bones and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes and allow to cool.

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

"You can't have your cake and eat it too." I understand the saying, and yeah I've experienced it plenty of times, like most people. But as a baker? Nope, doesn't happen. Well, except for the occassional failed recipe. But usually I can have my cake and eat it too. Just not too much or I'll have an expanding waistline, which I do NOT want. If you are a chocolate lover like me and looking for a great chocolate cake you might want to give my go-to chocolate cake recipe a try. I searched high and low for what would become my "tried and true" chocolate cake recipe and wouldn't you know it was under my nose all along? On the back of the Hershey's Dutch Proccessed Cocoa container I found euphoria in the form of cake. Want the ultimate sinfully delicious cake? Definitely top the cake off with my "tried and true" chocolate frosting - Fantastic Double Fudge Frosting. Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake 2 c. sugar 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 3/4 c. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs 1 c. milk 1/2 c. vegetable oil 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 c. boiling water Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. Makes 10 to 12 servings. Fantastic Double Fudge Frosting 1 1/4 c. sugar 1 c. heavy cream 5 (1 oz each) squares unsweetened chocolate 1 stick unsalted butter 1 tsp. vanilla extract Bring sugar and heavy cream to boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring so that it doesn't boil over. Remove pan from heat and add unsweetened chocolate, stir until completely dissolved. Add butter and stir until melted, then add vanilla, stir to combine. Refrigerate. When icing is cold, beat with an electric mixer or wooden spoon. Frost cake. Frosts 1 2 layer cake or single layer medium size sheet cake. *All credit goes to Ayun Halliday author of Dirty Sugar Cookies for original frosting recipe. Oh, and if you're wondering if "Merfday" is some unusual little known holiday yet undiscovered by you, the answer is no. Well, sorta. I made the cake to celebrate my long-time friend Meredith's recent birthday. Together we're two very silly girls, always coming up with goofy nicknames for our friends and family, and for as long as I can remember we've all known her as Merf. Me? Well, I'll just leave y'all to wonder about my alias...

Best Brownies? Or is there one better?

Continuing my search for my ideal brownie I tried out another recipe, this time for Allrecipes' Best Brownies. I often turn to the site when looking for a new recipe because I find the reader reviews and ratings to be helpful. But are they always accurate? I'm not so sure they are. Ever the chocolate lover, how did these brownies turn out? Well, for over 1,000 allrecipes members they are pretty fantastic, racking up a whopping 4 1/2 stars. The important question, how did these brownies rate with me? The recipe was easy enough and by all accounts a success. Still they are not my ideal brownie. The batter was nice and thick like a brownie batter should be, but the brownies themself were very thin. I also thought they were pretty sweet, which I'm not so much complaining about, but they weren't chocolatey enough for me. When I think of brownies I think of deep rich chocolate flavor, with a fudgy texture. This recipe falls somewhere nicely in the middle of cakey and fudgy, which was fine by me, but I definitely need a richer chocolate flavor. I generally don't add icing to my brownies, and since these were so thin I skipped icing. I'll likely give this recipe a shot again since the batter was mixed up and in the oven in less than 15 minutes, but next time I'll double the amount of batter used for the pan size and I'll use dutch process cocoa powder in place of regular cocoa powder. Reviews: 1,611 Rating: 4 1/2 stars Best Brownies 1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 3 tablespoons butter, softened 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup confectioners' sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Rachael Ray's Gigi's Apple Cake

Ok, I'm reaching into my archives with this one. I made this so long ago I can't even remember when, but for some reason I kept it a secret, never taking time enough to share it with y'all. Most people who know me know I'm not a Rachael Ray fan. I'm not a Rach-hater, I'm just not a Rach-lover. I do however really like her talkshow, and I love, love, triple lover her magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray. I don't make too many of the recipes from the magazine, and I have yet to make a recipe from any of her shows, but I really dig the style of the magazine and Rach's talkshow. The recipes in the Sweet Spot section of the magazine always catch my eye and if I'm going to make one of the recipes from Everyday with Rachael Ray, that's 9 times out of 10 going to be the recipe. I found the recipe for Gigi's Apple Cake in the August/September issue. I have no idea who Gigi is, but the cake was gorgeous and sounded absolutely delicious. I love apples and the cake turned out great, nice and moist from the apples. My cake didn't turn out to look like the one in the magazine, but I'm sure it tasted just as good. Gigi's Apple Cake 1 cup canola oil, plus more for greasing 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 teaspoons baking powder 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 6 Granny Smith apples (about 1¼ pounds)-peeled, cored and thinly sliced 2¼ cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 1/3 cup orange juice 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan. In a medium bowl, combine the 2½ cups of flour with the baking powder and 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon. In a large bowl, toss the apples with ¼ cup of the sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and set aside. In a standing mixed fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the 1 cup of oil with the eggs, orange juice, vanilla and the remaining 2 cups of sugar on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the flour in 3 batches, mixing until just combined. Add the apples and stir to combine. Transfer to the pan, leaving about an inch at the top, and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1½ hours. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before unmolding it onto a rack to cool completely.

Two Years Strong and Going

I'm a few days late celebrating the two year anniversary of the launch of my beloved blog. Okay, six days to be exact, but much better late than never right? I'm kind of sad that life is often so busy and rushed that milestone dates often slip my mind until after the fact. But I suppose a blog anniversary isn't quite the milestone that a wedding anniversary or a loved one's birthday is, so this isn't quite a tragedy. But, I digress. What better way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other special event than with cupcakes? Devils food cupcakes with chocolate coffee buttercream..I made these cupcakes for the first time last year as part of an article for A Nice Cuppa. The recipe comes from the book 500 Cupcakes. The book lives up to the name, but to my disappointment, most of those 500 cupcake recipes are slight, sometimes very slight, variations on a basic recipes. After hitting the two year mark with my blog it makes me wonder what lies ahead. I hope that my blog will be here for many years to come, that my skills in the kitchen will continue to grow and grow. That I will be able to build party planning and catering business into everything I dream of. Only time will tell, but you my dear readers, I thank for the last two years with me, even during the slow times when it seemed that I may have disappeared. Devils Food Cupcakes 2 c self rising flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 cup brown sugar 2 sticks butter, softened 2 eggs seperated 3 1/2 oz semisweet choc, melted 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 medium size muffin cups with paper liners. Sift flour & baking powder together in medium bowl, set aside. In bowl of mixer, cream together sugar and butter. Add egg yolks, beat well. Add melted chocolate & vanilla, mixing well. Add flour & milk alternately, beating well with each addition. Beat egg whites in medium bowl until soft peaks form and gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into cups filling 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pans from oven & cool 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan & cool on rack. Chocolate Coffee Buttercream 1 stick butter, softened 1 tbsp milk 3 1/2 oz semisweet choc, melted 1 tsp vanilla 2 c confectioners sugar, sifted 1 tsp hot coffee + 2 tbsp instant coffee granules Beat in milk until smooth. Stir in melted chocolate & vanilla. Beat in confectioners sugar until thick and creamy. Stir in cooled coffee mixture. Spread over cupcakes. Store unfrosted in airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. The original frosting recipe called for 3/4 c confectioners sugar, but the consistancy seemed a bit thin, and honestly I like a generous amount of frosting on my cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves were pretty good, but not as moist and dense and I like. And considering that I had to seperate the eggs, beat the egg whites then fold them in, I think next time I would opt to use another cupcake recipe.

Puttin some 'nanas to good use

Who wants some banana bread? I decided I did! I make banana bread from time to time usually trying out some random recipe in hopes of finding the one that will end my search. This is supposedly a Paula Deen recipe, but I'm not absolutely sure. I looked on the FoodNetwork website and didn't find it there. I made a few changes - the addition of cinnamon in the batter, a few slices of bananas on top for appearance and some cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. Yum, doesn't cinnamon make almost everything better? This would be perfect with some nuts added in to make banana nut muffins...one of my favorite breakfast treats! Bodacious Banana Bread 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 3 ripe bananas, mashed (reserve 4 or 5 slices to add on top once the batter is in the pan) 1-2 Tbsp. cinnamon sugar Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar; mix well. Add the salt, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and bananas. Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, top with reserved banana slices and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 50 minutes, or until wooden skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan to cooling rack. Variation: For muffins fill regular size muffin cups 2/3 full, top each with a slice of banana and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan to cooling rack until completely cooled.