Go Fish! Restaurant Review

Wow. It feels like forever since I had a chance to sit down and write. It has been at least a month, hasn't it? Don't worry, I'll get back to baking tomorrow! lol

Part of the reason for the hiatus is because my husband, son, and I took a long road trip out to Delaware to visit my family. My grandfather lives near Rehoboth Beach, which is an adorable shopping and family mecca along the Atlantic Ocean. (Hey, I've met people who didn't know where Delaware is before.)

Rehoboth is famous for it's boardwalk; one mile of adorable shops, great food, a few hotels, and a small amusement park. (They also have a huge number of outlet stores for shopping; which attract a large number of tourists due to their low prices and no sales tax.) Right off the boardwalk is a small restaurant called Go Fish! that specializes in British style fish and chips.

And they are phenomenal! My husband, mom, her best friend, and I went there for lunch before we went to the Funland amusement center. We all chose the English Beer Battered Fish + Chips made from Iceland Cod. It was sooo good; I wish they delivered to St. Louis! The fish was perfectly battered; not too thick, but nice and crunchy. The fish was high quality and practically melted in your mouth. My family tells me that the coleslaw that came with the meal was really good as well. The only downside is that the meal is a little pricey for lunch at $9.95 per plate. 

The restaurant itself is cute, but tiny. There is no room for a stroller in there! We had to fold it up and stow it under the bar. They also do not have a changing table in either of their unsex bathrooms; which is a shame because their restrooms are large enough to have one. 

All in all, though, I wish we had one here. The next time we go to Rehoboth, we will definitely go there!

Food: +++++

Drinks: +++++

Service: ++++

Overall: +++++

GoFish! - British Fish + Chip Shop

Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Yields: 2 dozen 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) softened Butter

1 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1.5 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

3 cups Old-Fashioned Oats

1 cup Raisins 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.
4. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
6. Stir in the oats and raisins.
7. Drop tablespoons of the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool 1 minute on the sheet, then move the cookies onto a wire rack. 
10. Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container. 

Oatmeal cookies are one of my ultimate comfort foods, and, now that I am a breast-feeding mom, a dietary staple. (Oatmeal is supposed to help milk production. Who knew?) Eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning gets old, though. And so, I try and fit in oatmeal other ways. 

Recipes | QuakerOats.com

Chuck a Burger Restaurant Review

I haven't written anything new in a while! My old boss called me back in to work this week to help shoot a dance school. It was my first week of work since Nathan was born and, I have to say, it was exhausting. But it was a lot of fun! I love watching the little girls in their dance costumes!

Anyway, I have helped photograph this dance school for years. The first time I went along, my boss took me to this drive in/restaurant called Chuck a Burger. (When I heard the name I was like... what? But yes, that is the name!) Every other time I have shot at that school, I went there. So yesterday, I decided to take my husband and son there.

It really is a cute little place; like going back in time. Inside, they have photos of Elvis and Sonny and Cher on the walls. There are a bunch of oldies playing in the background. A waitress comes up to take your order. They make everything to order, so it takes a little longer then most fast food places.

Their menu is classic style; burgers, fries, shakes, etc with a few wilder things (The spaghetti with chili comes to mind). Their burgers are pretty good, I like them a lot. Their milk shakes are great too! 

The Chuck a Burgers used to be the St. Louis place to get a burger. Sadly, as people are always in a hurry now, the drive-ins are in danger of going out of business. If you are ever in the St. Louis area, you should check them out. If people don't continue to go to places like this, they will all be gone. Or do people not want to stop and appreciate their history anymore while enjoying a great burger?

Chuck-A-Burger Drive In, crusin’ every Wednesday & Friday in St. Charles

Outlaw Blues Restaurant Review

After another disastrous attempt at eating at The Pasta House, see previous review, we went to our new standby, Outlaw Blues in O'Fallon, Il. The food there is consistently good and they seem to be getting very popular. We found it just before Christmas and my whole family thinks that it is fantastic. (Which is a real feat in and of itself.) There is something there for everyone, although they seem to be shifting from the southern style cuisine to being a steakhouse.

We tried an appetizer tonight, which was their Fried Mushrooms. The coating on them was great, but the mushrooms themselves had little taste. I believe they were white button mushrooms instead of baby portabellas. 

For the entree, I had the Chicken and Waffles. Essentially, it is a waffle with maple syrup, tator tots, and fried chicken. It is pretty good, but a lot of food so I usually eat the waffle, then take home the chicken for lunch the next day. The chicken is great! You can even get it as a take-out family meal.

Matthew had the Liver and Onions, which is definitely not my thing. But he really likes it there! And so does my dad.

If you ever get dessert there, you have got to try their cheesecake! It is great!

Outlaw Blues Restaurant & Saloon

Food: ++++

Drinks: ++++

Service: +++++

Overall: ++++

The Pasta House Restaurant Review

One of my favorite restaurants is The Pasta House, which is a small chain located in the St. Louis area. We tend to go to the new/rebuilt one in Fairview Heights, IL. It is a nice place, and the food is really good, but we haven't been able to get food the last few times we went there.

Tonight, we were really craving The Pasta House, so we headed over there around 8:30 pm. The restaurant is divided into two halves; the dinner section on your right and a bar area on your left. Right inside the door on your left is a small space for a live band. As soon as we parked in the parking lot, we could hear the band blaring. We walked in the door but as soon as we got inside the amplified music was so loud it made our son wake up and cry. And so we had to leave. Which is really sad because I love this restaurant. The music there drives me crazy though. (The bands aren't bad, they are just so LOUD that it would be hard to have a conversation, let alone leave without a headache. It is like they want to be a club instead of a restaurant.)

And before someone says, sit on the other side of the restaurant, we did that last time and our son just got really upset (and we had headaches) so we left before we got our appetizers. 

If someone from the Pasta House reads this, PLEASE turn down the music. Bands do not need amplification in such a small space! I want to eat there again!

The Art and Soul of Baking: Cookbook Review

I received this cookbook as an anniversary present this year and, I must say, it is a great resource for learning to bake. Not only does it give you recipes and step-by-step instructions (many with pictures), but it gives you the reasons behind why you do what you do. Why you use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. Why you need to have butter and eggs room temperature. Why you need a certain type of pan for a certain project. Why you need to invest in an oven thermometer.

This book covers all the different aspects of baking; from breads, to cakes, to cookies, to souffles, to cheesecakes, to custards, and beyond. I really like the section towards the end about the finishing touches; chocolate curls, spun sugar, and some frostings.

This book was published by one of my favorite stores, Sur la Table. Like all of their cookbooks, the photos in this book are beautiful. It has definitely given me inspiration to try a few things later this year, both photographically as well as things to bake.

I have tried a few things from it so far, and all of them turned out pretty well (The Cooking Celtic Wife: Raspberry Souffles with Chocolate Truffles). The only one that didn't work was an error on my part; I didn't heed the book's warning about checking your oven's temperature so the cake that I baked just didn't rise. Everything else tasted good, the cake was just a funny texture.

This book would be a great gift for someone who is interested in baking, or someone who is interested in chemistry since baking is a yummy chemistry experiment. I love my copy; it has taught me so much that it is a permanent addition to our cookbook collection.

Amazon.com: The Art and Soul of Baking: Sur La Table, Cindy Mushet: Books

Harvest Restaurant Review 2

Date-night is one of my favorite days of the month, and it is even more important now that we have a 5 month old. This month we were also celebrating Matthew's birthday AND his acceptance into a great culinary program and so- we went to our new favorite restaurant, Harvest.

The reason that I love this restaurant is that the menu always changes; it is a seasonal restaurant so whatever is in season is what is on the menu. If they can't get it fresh they replace that option on the menu with one they can. Also, a lot of their produce is organic, and sustainable agricultural products. They even try to be as Earth friendly as possible, by using Wind Power and donating their used cooking oil to the St. Louis Bio-Diesel Club. 

And dinner was Awesome! I loved it!

For our appetizer, we both had Steve's Caesar Salad with shaved Wisconsin Parmeasan and homemade Garlic-Parmesan Croutons.

For the entree, Matthew had the Char-Grilled Marinated Hanger Steak with Salemville Amish Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes, creamed Spinach, and their homemade steak sauce. The flavor on that steak was amazing! And we have got to figure out how to make those mashed potatoes!

I had the Sou-Vide Beef Tenderloin Fillet with Sweet Potatoes, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Sugar Snap Peas in a Lemon-grass broth. It was the first time I have eaten something that was cooked Sou-Vide style and have never had beef that tender before. It was actually off of their Spa Menu, which means that it was not only healthy but low in fat. 

For dessert, Matthew had the bread pudding and I had their Triple Chocolate dessert; chocolate creme brulee, flour-less chocolate cake, and a homemade mocha chocolate chip ice cream. (Hey, I was good during dinner... I don't have to be good during dessert!)

I just can not get over how wonderful that dinner was. If you are ever in St. Louis, you have got to go to this restaurant!

The only downside to this place is the women's restroom is kinda gross. It was clean and all, don't get me wrong, but it was... old and not what I was expecting from this level of restaurant. 

Menu and Spa Menu

Food: +++++

Drinks: +++++

Service: +++++

Overall: +++++

Baby Oatmeal

Baby Oatmeal

Yields:1/4 cup

2 Tbsp Oatmeal 

4 Tbsp Formula/Breastmilk

Combine the two and presto! Baby Oatmeal!

We currently use Gerber's Organic Oatmeal. If we can't make it ourselves, we are going to try and buy everything organic. If you really want to stick with homemade, you can always make your own. Just put your oats (or brown rice, if you want rice cereal) in a food processor/blender and pulverize it for 3-5 minutes until it makes a powder. Then just measure it as normal. If your baby is over 6 months, though, they need the additional iron that is added to commercially made cereals so you should talk to your pedi about how to make certain your child gets enough iron.

I did a lot of research into baby food before we started this new adventure. I found a lot of useful websites, like Make Homemade Baby Food Recipes, Homemade Baby Food Recipes, Solid Food Baby Tips, Baby Nutrition & more!

Essentially, you can start your baby on any food you would like, although doctors recommend rice cereal because it is the least likely to cause an allergic reaction. Many people told me that we should start with oatmeal, but I wanted to play it as safe as possible. 

Our son loves eating. He didn't seem to like the taste of the rice cereal, but that is common. Most babies don't. And, I have to say, after looking at it I don't blame them. But our son loves the oatmeal. He just can't get enough of it! He actually dives for it and cries if you don't get it too him fast enough.

Next up: Bananas or Sweet Potatoes. Not sure which yet.

Pasta Con Broccoli

Pasta Con Broccoli

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:

4 oz uncooked Pasta (usually shells)

1 cup Cream (or half-and-half)

2 Tbsp Butter

1/2 tsp minced Garlic

2 Tbsp Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup chopped Broccoli

Salt and Ground Black Pepper, to taste

1/3 cup sliced Mushrooms

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta until half done. Drain.
2. Return pasta to pot.
3. Add cream, butter, garlic, tomato sauce, broccoli, salt and pepper to the pot.
4. Bring to a hard boil.
5. When pasta is fully cooked, stir in the mushrooms. 
6. Remove from heat. Toss and serve.

This recipe comes from a restaurant called The Pasta House, which is located in the St. Louis, MO area. This recipe is occasionally posted on their website, but I originally wrote it down when it was published in our local newspaper, The St. Louis Dispatch.

It really is delicious! It works well as either a main dish or as a side dish and it is really quick and simple to make. I will have to make it again soon so I can post a photo.

Amish White Bread

Amish White Bread

Yields: 2 9x5 inch Loaves

Ingredients:

2 cups warm Distilled/Purified Water

2/3 cup Granulated Sugar

1.5 Tbsp active dry Yeast

1.5 tsp Salt

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

6 cups Bread Flour

Instructions:

1. Heat the water to 110 degrees F.
2. Dissolve sugar in the warm water, then stir in the yeast. Allow it to sit until it makes a creamy foam.
3. Mix salt and oil into the yeast.
4. Mix flour in one cup at a time. 
5. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. About 10 minutes.
6. Place dough in a bowl, cover it with a cloth, and allow it to sit somewhere warm (like on top of the heated oven) for an hour. 
7. After an hour, punch the dough back down. 
8. Divide the dough in half, shaping it into two loaves and placing it in the well greased pans.
9. Allow the dough to rise for another hour. My family recommended I let it go longer then the recipe called for; and I did, and it worked!
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When it is done, you should be able to tap on it and it will sound hollow.

I actually got this recipe from allrecipes.com; Amish White Bread - All Recipes

For some reason, baking bread was the hardest thing I have ever tried. And I don't mean the bread machine type or the mixer type, but the good old-fashioned, rustic, put some muscle into it type. I had tried several recipes in the past, but I could never get the bread to rise! And if it did, my bread always ended up incredibly dense and yeasty and basically inedible. 

I came from a family that ate Wonderbread (they still do) and that works great for them. My husband, however, came from a family that had fresh, homemade bread all the time. I knew that he missed it and that he hasn't been able to find a bread out here in the Midwest that he likes. And so, I was determined to bake him bread. (Shouldn't every good wife make her husband homemade bread? lol)

I read everything about it that I could. (I am a researcher by nature, so I have to know everything about what I am doing. It's the curiosity factor, I think.) I learned that the oven temperature needs to be precise; if it is too cold the dough won't rise, if it is too hot it will kill the yeast and not rise. And so, I had to start out using an oven thermometer so that it was exactly the right temp.

I also pulled out a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of my water. Again, I had to make sure that I didn't kill the yeast. Another thing that can doom you from the start is to use tap water; the chlorine and other minerals in the tap water can also kill your yeast.

The end result? Perfection!

Creme Brulee Sugar Topping

Creme Brulee Sugar Topping

Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup Light Brown Sugar

1 cup Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Yes, it is 200.
2. Place a piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Spread the light brown sugar out on top of it.
3. Place the light brown sugar into the oven for about 30-40 minutes. The goal is to remove the moisture from the sugar; it should be dry and crispy.
4. Once the sugar is done, pour/push it through a mesh strainer into a medium sized bowl to get the large chunks out. Try to break up the chunks. If you can't, just throw them out.
5. Mix the light brown sugar with the granulated sugar. 
6. Store in an airtight container. It will not go bad and you can use it for all future Brulees.

I was a little skeptical of this recipe at first; but I am very glad that I tried it. It really was better then the plain granulated sugar topping and the vanilla sugar topping. You can definitely make less of it at first, though. I now have a large jar of Brulee sugar. I guess that just means that I need to make a lot more Brulees! lol

Creme Brulee with Strawberries

Creme Brulee

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 quart Heavy Cream

1 Vanilla Bean, split and scraped

1 cup Vanilla Sugar, divided (I used regular sugar and it worked great)

6 large Egg Yolks

Hot Water (for water bath)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Pour the cream, vanilla bean, and the bean's pulp into a medium pan. Cook on medium-high heat until boiling.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, remove the vanilla bean, cover the pan, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until the mixture lightens in color.
5. While still stirring, slowly pour the cream into the bowl.
6. Pour the mixture into your ramekins. I used 8, 4 oz ramekins.
7. Place the ramekins in a large pan. Fill the pan with hot water until the water-line is half-way up the side of the ramekins.
8. Place the pan(s) in the heated oven. Bake until the edges are se, with the center still trembling. ~40-45 minutes
9. Remove the ramekins from the pan and refrigerate them for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
10. Remove the brulee from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to browning. 
11. Spread some sugar on top of the brulee. How much depends on how thick you like your crust. I use about 1 tsp of Brulee Sugar on top. You can use up to a Tbsp.
12. Grab your culinary torch and light it. Hold the flame with enough distance to melt the sugar, but not enough to cause a sudden darkening of the sugar. Move the torch in small circles over the brulee; holding it in one spot for too long can scorch the custard.
13. Wait about 3 minutes and serve!

For Christmas, my husband gave me a culinary torch and some ramekins. He also found Alton Brown's Creme Brulee recipe and bought the ingredients so that I could make it right away. (He knows me well.) Even though I burnt the heck out of my first set, it still tasted phenomenal! I love making this recipe! It is really great if you are having people over for dinner; you make it the day before and let them torch their own dessert, lol. The original recipe is here: Creme Brulee Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network

Creme Brulee is considered the classic dessert. It is fairly light, can compliment any meal, and is pretty simple to make. It is more time consuming then difficult. And there are endless variations; with fresh fruit, with chocolate, made entirely of chocolate, classically done with special Creme Brulee sugar on top...

I recently bought a cookbook that is just different types of Creme Brulee. It is an interesting read; I had not known that my new Torch could be so useful. Stay tuned for further Torch usage! (My pyro side is coming out!)

Raspberry Souffles with Chocolate Truffles

Raspberry Souffles

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

12 oz Raspberries (frozen or 1 pint fresh)

1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar and 1/4 cup (2 oz) Granulated Sugar

1 tsp Framboise (optional)

5 large Egg Whites

Powdered Sugar (for serving)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Butter the Souffles dishes well, then dust with granulated Sugar (tap out the excess). The size of the dishes don't matter; if you want it to rise properly, though, you need to have a dish with straight sides. 
3. Thaw the raspberries. Place the raspberries and the juice in a food processor (we used our Magic Bullet and it worked wonderfully). Blend them until completely pureed. 
4. Pour the puree through a strainer, getting out all the seeds. Discard the seeds.
5. Mix 1 Tbsp sugar, and the framboise if using, into the puree.
6. Using a mixer and a clean bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they form soft peaks. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the 1/4 cup of sugar. Keep mixing until hard firm form.
7. Gently stir about a forth of the eggs into the puree. Then gently fold the remaining egg whites into the puree.
8. Place batter into the souffle dishes. (The easiest way is to put it into a pastry bag. That way, you can put half the batter in, put an optional treat in the center, then put in the rest of the batter.) 
9. Be careful to not overfill the souffle dishes! In an actual souffle dish, there is a line that you fill to. Level the tops with a metal spatula.
10. Bake for 14-17 minutes, or until the center is firm.
11. Serve immediately! The souffle starts to fall as soon as you take it out of the oven. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or serve with Creme Fraiche. 

This recipe was taken from a new cookbook that I got called "The Art and Soul of Baking." It is a wonderful book that not only tells you what to do, but why you should do it. I definitely recommend it! (And I hope they don't mind that I copied their photo of the cover- which, incidentally, has the souffles on the cover. My photo was not as pretty...)

This was the first souffle I have ever baked. I think it was a success! It fell much quicker then I was expecting, although I think that had more to do with the fact that our house is only 68 degrees. 

I thought about putting whole raspberries in the center of the souffle, but then I forgot to save some when I made the puree. So I went along with the book's recipe and made Chocolate Truffles to put in the center. The chocolate really complimented the raspberries.

Chocolate Truffles

Yields: 10 Truffles

Ingredients: 

3 oz bittersweet Chocolate- up to 70% cocoa (I used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa)

6 Tbsp (3 oz) Heavy Whipping Cream

Instructions:

1. Finely chop the chocolate.
2. Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe dish. 
3. Heat on high in the microwave, stopping and stirring the mixture every 30 sec. (It only took 1 minute for mine, and it was close to curdling. If yours curdles, add 1 more Tbsp of cream to your mixture until it is smooth again.)
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Use a small spoon to scoop out about 1/2 Tbsp of the chocolate. Form into a round ball then drop on a plate. Do this to form 10 Truffles.
6. Cover again with plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator.

Blue C Sushi Restaurant Review

This weekend, I was in Seattle, Washington, and my brother-in-law took us to this awesome restaurant named Blue C Sushi. We went to the branch located in University City. It was very Tokyo oriented; clean lines, high tech, and a simply dressed wait-staff.

Besides the awesome, fresh sushi, the main attraction to this place is the open layout of the restaurant. The kitchen is located in the center of the restaurant, with the booths placed around it. Along the edges of the booths is a small conveyer-belt that carries your food choices. Each plate is labeled as to the name of the entree, and color coded so you know the cost before you pick it up. There is a small menu located at your table, so if you don't see what you want pass by your table, you can hit a small lightswitch and a waitress will come by to place your order.

My Favorite Entrees were the Sesame Noodles, the Potato Katsu, and the Teriyaki Chicken. (I'm not a huge sushi fan, although the California Rolls weren't bad.)

My family also grabbed the V-8 rolls, the Red Dragon roll, the Spicy Tuna roll, the Tuna roll, the Spider rolls, the California rolls, and the Edamame. (There were 4 pieces on each plate, and 6 of us eating, in case you were wondering.)

For dessert, we had Mochi; which is a glutenous rice that is pounded into a thick paste, then molded into a shape. In this case, the rice paste was molded around ice cream. We had the chocolate and the mango flavors; both were really really good.

My favorite item was the Potato Katsu. It was awesome! And, surprisingly, cheap.

Everything we tried was really good. The only thing my family didn't like were the Spicy Tuna rolls; the tuna in them was slimey; not good in a sushi experience.

Bottomline: I am definitely going there again. The whole atmosphere was different and really cool. My brother-in-law has great taste. :)

http://www.bluecsushi.com/

Food: +++++

Drinks: +++++

Service: ++++ (It took forever to get our check.)

Overall: +++++

New York Style Cheesecake

New York Style Cheesecake

Yields: 1  9 inch Cheesecake

Ingredients:

4  8 oz packages Cream Cheese, room temperature

1.5 cups Granulated Sugar

3/4 cup Milk

4 eggs, room temperature

1 cup Sour Cream

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

Instructions

1. Set out your cream cheese and eggs until they become room temperature. (If they are too cold, your cheesecake will come out either lumpy or it will be over-mixed and crack.)
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Double check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer. If your oven is too warm, your cheesecake will crack.)
3. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. (Do not over-mix.)
4. Blend in milk.
5. Next add the eggs, one at a time. (Mix just enough for them to blend in but no more.)
6. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract, and flour until smooth.
7. Pour mixture into prepared crust. (You will want a fairly deep pan for this.)
8. Place a cookie sheet under the pan, then place both pans in the oven for 1 hour. Cook until the edges harden and there is a 2-3 inch center that is still liquid. (It will set once cooled.)
9. Take the pan out of the oven and run a straight metal spatula around the outside of the cheesecake to separate it from the pan. (This also prevents cracking.)
10. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack; 1-2 hours.
11. Cover with plastic wrap and place cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
12. To remove cheesecake from pan, scrape the sides again with a metal spatula, then pass the spatula under the bottom of the cake.

Cheesecake Topping

Ingredients:

1.5 cups Sour Cream

2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
   
2. Combine the two ingredients in a small bowl.
3. When your cheesecake has cooled for an hour or so, evenly spread the mixture on top.
4. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.
5. Allow the cheesecake to cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Then place in refrigerator as usual.

Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker Crust

Yields: 1 pie crust

Ingredients:

2 cups Graham Crackers (or 8 oz, or 14 full-size crackers)

1 stick melted Butter (or 4 oz)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease your chosen pan (pie plate, springform pan, or cheesecake pan) with either butter, or Wilton's Cake Release.
3. In a medium bowl, combine crackers and butter. Using a fork, mix the two together until all the crumbs are moistened.
4. Scrape the mixture into your prepared pan. Using the bottom of a glass, push the mixture flat into the pan. It is easiest to start in the middle and work your way outwards.
5. Bake in the oven for 16 minutes, or until it is golden brown.
6. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack.

You can prepare this crust up to 4 days in advance. It is great for cheesecakes and chocolate silk pies. 

Also see my:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 3.5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2.25 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened

3/4 cup Granulated Sugar

3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 large Eggs

2 cups (12 oz) Chocolate Chips

1 cup chopped Nuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Beat well.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips (and nuts, if adding). 
7. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (Those cookie scoops are amazing.)
8. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until golden brown.

After trying several dozen cookie recipes, Nestle's is still the best. Everyone likes it because it reminds them of home. I made this recipe again today, and it really reminded me of childhood baking sessions. 

The first thing I ever baked was this recipe. I was 6 years old and sooo excited to bake cookies! I was a little too excited and I added the chocolate chips at the beginning of the recipe, into the flour. My mom was a little flabbergasted (a fun word that only applies to my mother), but she still made it work. My parent's were so sweet to me... they actually pretended that they tasted good. :)

Baby Rice Cereal

Baby's First Rice Cereal

Serving Size: 1/4 cup

4 Tbsp warm Breast Milk or Formula

1 Tbsp Rice Cereal (We used Gerber's Organic)

Simply combine the two in a small bowl and presto! Baby cereal. 

Basically, Gerber (and our pedi) recommend a 4 to 1 ratio for the first few feedings. The first feeding, we did the 4/1 Tbsp but we had a LOT left over. Today, we did a 4/1 tsp and Nathan ate almost all of it. And we didn't waste any breast milk.

As a mom who loves to cook, I am committed to making sure my son gets the best I can give him for food. My husband and I will be making almost all of Nathan's first foods ourselves. Yes, I am buying cereal and oatmeal, but the rest will all be homemade. So stay tuned for recipes in the upcoming months!

Baby Product Recommendation:

I recommend the spoons made by Nuby. I love that they are BPA free and change color if I made his food too warm. The angled handle is also nice for feeding him.

Nuby Hot Safe Spoons, BPA Free Baby Spoon, Non Toxic Baby Spoons

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Class 4

Tonight was the last class in Course 1 and I can't believe that 4 weeks has flown by so quickly! And I am proud of myself for accomplishing what I set out to do; ice a cake properly.

For my last class, I baked the Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake and it was perfect! Moist, light, and airy. I used Hershey's Chocolate Butter-cream for the filling between the layers and icing the cake, and added the Meringue Powder so that it would crust correctly. I also mixed up two batches of class icing to use for decorating; one medium consistency and one thin.

I was surprised that three of our classmates didn't show up for the final class!

The rest of us all arrived early, and already had our cakes iced. We started by mixing colors; green for leaves and whatever color we chose for the border and flowers. I picked leaf green and lavender (which I kind of made too light and under certain lighting conditions appears light blue).

First we learned to make a cursive "e" border around the bottom of the cake. Then I did a zig-zag border around the top. During our course we learned the shell border, star border, zig-zag border, and cursive "e" border. Out of all of them I prefer the shell border, even though I find it hard to do. 

Next we used a #3 tip to make rounded lines for ivy vines in any pattern we wanted. Nobody chose the book's pattern...

Then we learned to make sweet peas. I thought they would be hard but they really weren't. I got them on the first try. A few ladies had difficulty with them, though.

Then we learned to make the ultimate butter-cream decoration! The Wilton Rose! When I read about it in our course book, it looked really difficult. I confess that I was pretty intimidated by it. The four roses I created in class, though, looked really good... They are just as good as the ones in the bakeries. (I'm not sure if it means that I'm that good or they are that bad. Probably both.) Sadly, only three roses actually made it onto my cake because, as I was transfering the rose from the nail I dropped it onto my cake. You can see the lavender lines of icing on my cake below my roses from where it hit. Another of my roses was messed up by my teacher, who accidently hit it and smushed the center in. Oops. But hey, it's the first time I didn't smush my own cake! Progress, right?

Finally, we learned to make leaves to surround our roses and sweet peas. My teacher showed the class how to create them on my cake, which was fine until she showed them how to insert a leaf in between the roses. So now I have a leaf sticking up in between my roses and I think it looks silly. But oh well. It tasted good. :)

I can not wait for Course 2! It's all about learning Royal Icing, which I have never worked with but it looks cool. At Michael's during April, Course 2 is going to be on Tuesdays which would normally work well for me. Unfortunately, I will be out of town from a Tuesday through a Tuesday, so I would miss two classes. I am going to check at Hobby Lobby to see if I can go to those and just miss one class. If that doesn't work, I will have to wait until May. If I had to wait I think I will learn to bake bread.

Hershey's Chocolate Butter-cream Frosting

Hershey's Chocolate Butter-cream Frosting

Makes ~3 cups

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened

2 2/3 cups powdered sugar (sifted if clumpy)

1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions

1. In a small mixing bowel, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar and cocoa, alternate with milk.
3. Beat the mixture to a spreading consistency. (Add more milk if it is too thick.)
4. Blend in the vanilla.
5. Ice cake, cupcakes, or cookies.

I love this recipe because it is not ridiculously sweet. This is also the recipe I used to ice my cake for my last Wilton Class. I added some of the Meringue Powder (1 Tbsp) that I used in my class so that it would be stiffer and it worked really well.

Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 cups sugar (try Baker's Sugar, it's awesome)

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa

1.5 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Instructions:

1. Grease and flour 2 9" round or 1 13"x9"x2" pan (Try Wilton Cake Release. Seriously. It works just as well and is much faster.)
2. In a large mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Blend well.
3. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.
4. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the boiling water. The batter will be thin. 
6. Pour into the pans.
7. Bake 30-35 minutes for round pans. 35-40 minutes for rectangle.
8. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack, then remove cakes from pans onto the wire rack.

This is my go-to cake recipe that my Grandma passed on to me. It is from the Hershey Company, and is still listed on their website. If you have never baked a cake before, I recommend this one. Try it with the Hershey Chocolate Butter-cream Frosting.

Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients

6 oz (1.5 cups) Fresh or Frozen (Thawed) Raspberries

1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Fresh Raspberries: clean, Frozen Raspberries: thaw and save juices
2. Place Raspberries (and juices) in blender. We used our Magic Bullet and it worked great.
3. Puree Raspberries.
4. Pour Raspberry puree into a strainer. Push mixture through strainer firmly repeatedly until only seeds are left.
5. Stir in lemon juice.
6. Add sugar to taste.
7. Refrigerate until needed.

This recipe came from my awesome new cookbook, The Art and Soul of Baking. I used it as filling in my most recent cake and it worked pretty well, although it was a little thin. I think if I refrigerate it before I use it it will work even better. I am also thinking about getting a squeeze bottle so I can use it for plating in the future.

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Class 3

So tonight, I got to decorate my second cake. It was an adventure, to say the least.

I chose to make a Silver White Cake again, this time using some new baking techniques. 

Since I created a character cake last week, I didn't get the chance to practice icing or filling a two layer cake. My instructor recommended going ahead and filling the cake and putting the crumb coat on top.

I went ahead and put a thick layer of icing around the top of my bottom layer (as a frosting barrier). Then I filled it was raspberry filling (I'll post the recipe later). Then I went ahead and put my top layer on, which was a huge mistake. 

In retrospect, I should have made the frosting barrier larger and let it sit longer for the icing to harden. I also should have refrigerated the raspberry filling for a good half hour or longer so it would thicken up some. 

In any case, as soon as I put the top layer on, raspberry filling began bleeding out the sides of my cake. It was just a mess! The more I tried to clean it up, the worse it got! So, when I finally got to class, I was already a little frazzled. 

My instructor, though, helped me scoop some of the filling out and clean up my tray. Then I had to put on a crumb coat; it was hard to do without getting raspberry in my icing. Then she used the cake icing tip with a 16 in. featherweight bag to put a thick coat of frosting around my cake. The icing tip works really well because you can apply the icing without touching the cake (i.e., so you don't get filling everywhere).

In this class, our instructor went against the curriculum and taught us to do a gel pattern transfer of the rainbow in our course book. (Which was supposed to be the alternate cake in Lesson 2.) For this, you place a sheet of wax paper on top of the shape you want on your cake, and then you trace the shape with clear piping gel. You place the sheet gel side down on your cake, smooth the gel onto the cake (we ran a small paintbrush over the gel), and then lift off the wax paper. We filled in our rainbow with colored icing using the star tip.

Then we got to learn the first 3 flowers that are in Course 1, which are all accomplished with tip 2D. I went ahead and put three on my cake, and I was so excited that I didn't space them properly so they are just kind of... on there, lol.

All in all, though, I am pretty proud. It tastes fantastic and it doesn't look as dumb in person as I thought it did in the book. lol 

The Secrets of Baking

I think the reason I love baking is that it is so precise. It is like a chemistry experiment; if you add the correct things, under the correct conditions, in the correct order, you will get something amazing. The only problem was, I didn't really know what those correct things were. My mission is to find out. Here is a bit of what I have learned so far.

First off, there are several different types of flour; cake flour with 5-7% protein, pastry flour with 7-9% protein, self-rising flour with 7-11% protein, all-purpose flour with 7-12% percent protein, and bread flour with 12-14% protein. Some, like cake flour, need to be sifted before measuring. The types of flour are not interchangeable. There are conversions you can do to make one type into an imitation of another, but they are far from precise and give less predictable responses. 

For baking, superfine sugar dissolves better then regular granulated sugar. You can either purchase it, called Bakers Sugar, or make it by putting granulated sugar in a food processor for 60 sec. Superfine and granulated sugars are interchangeable. (All other types of sugar are not; like confectioners sugar.)

Eggs should always be the large size (unless your recipe calls for a different one). They should also be room temperature.

Butter should always be between 65 and 68*. Certain types of baked goods can fall if the butter was too warm. (It should be moldable but not squishy or liquid.)

I tried these principles with the new cake I made for my third Wilton class. For this class, I again did my mother in law's Silver White Cake. The difference was incredible! This cake was so much lighter and had a much smoother texture. Stay tuned for photos!

Lotawata Creek Restaurant Review

As their t-shirts say "This is not a chain restaurant." Lotawata Creek is located in Fairview Heights, IL. They are famous for their delicious steaks and their huge portion sizes. People drive for an hour or more just to eat there.

We went to Lotawata for dinner the other night, but it wasn't quite as good as usual. The ambiance was the same as always; country music playing in the background, cheerful wait-staff, and their steak house stuff (deer antlers on the wall, etc). 

The food just wasn't as great as I know it can be. The steak was good, but not phenomenal. The baked potato was a little smaller then usual. The broccoli was saturated with lemon and a little on the chilly side. 

I was just bummed. I have never had a bad meal there before. And, while I will say that it was bad by Lotawata's standards, it is still better then Outback, Lonestar, or any of the other chain restaurants. So I will go back.

www.lotawata.com

Food: ++++

Drinks: ++++

Service: +++++

Overall: +++++

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken

Serves 6

500 g (1lb 2oz) skinless chicken breast fillet

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1 spring onion (scallion), finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

90 g (3/4 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)

oil for deep-frying

Lemon Sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp roasted sesame oil

3 tbsp chicken stock  (or water)

1/2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Instructions:

1. Cut the chicken into slices. Place in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, spring onion, ginger, and garlic. Toss lightly. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
2. Add the egg to the chicken and toss lightly (to coat the chicken). Drain away the excess egg. Coat the chicken pieces with cornflour. (Place in a plastic bag and shake.)
3. Fill a wok 1/4 full of oil. Heat the oil to 375* F (190* C). (Or until a piece of bread fried golden brown in 10 sec once dropped in the oil.)
4. Add half the chicken to the oil, one piece at a time. Fry the chicken, stirring constantly, for 3.5-4 minutes (or until golden brown). Remove with a wire sieve and drain.
5. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
6. Once all the chicken is fried, reheat the oil and return all the chicken to the wok. Cook until crisp and golden brown. 
7. Drain the chicken, pour off the oil, and wipe out the wok.
8. To make the lemon sauce, combine the lemon juice, sugar, salt, sesame oil, stock, and cornflour.
9. Reheat the wok over medium heat until hot, add the lemon sauce and stir constantly until thickened. 
10. Add the chicken and toss lightly in the sauce. 

Matthew made this for me for dinner tonight, out of our new cookbook, The Food of China. We picked it up on the Border's sale rack last weekend and, I have to say, it is a pretty impressive cookbook. The photography is really good and the recipes sound delicious. This was the first one we tried and it was sooo good!

The Most Dangerous Cake Recipe in the World!

I was browsing through some cooking forums the other day, and I kept running across the title to this post, posted by a lady whose screen name is always BettyR. The first time I read it, I knew I had to try it and see if it worked! And it did! I'm still in shock.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 tbsp flour

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

3 tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil)

3 tbsp chocolate chips

Splash of vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Add dry ingredients to a large coffee mug. Mix well.
2. Add egg and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour in milk and oil. Mix well.
4. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla. Mix again.
5. Put mug in microwave for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
6. Cake will rise over the top of the mug!
7. Allow to cool before eating.

So... I screwed this up and forgot the vanilla... but it still tasted pretty good! I'm impressed.

Website where I found the original recipe: The most dangerous cake recipe in the world! - ChefTalk Cooking Forums

Olive Garden Restaurant Review

On Sunday night, we went to the Olive Garden in Fairview Heights, IL. 

We didn't have an appetizer.

Entree (Me): The Five Cheese Ziti al Forno

Entree (Matthew): Braised Beef and Tortelloni 

Both of our entrees were really good. My Ziti was really good, although a little sweet. After living in Santa Barbara for a few years, I have readjusted to non sweet tomato sauce. Now that we are back in St. Louis, I haven't adjusted back to the sweet sauce.

Dessert (Me): Lemon Cream Cake

Dessert (Matthew): Tiramisu 

Our desserts were good, but still frozen in the center, so we had to take them home to dethaw. Our server gave us one of the desserts for free, so that was a plus.

On the downside, Matthew's glass had a HUGE crack in it, from the middle of one side all the way under the glass. How did someone not notice that?

Food: ++++

Drinks: +++

Service: ++++

Overall: ++++

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Class 2

Tonight was my second Wilton Class! 

There are 9 people in my class; three of us did character cakes, 2 did heart shaped cakes, and the rest did 9" round cakes. 

We learned how to fill icing in between the layers of a cake, how to set up and fill the different decorating bags (nylon, disposable, and the parchment bags), and began practicing different icing techniques.

For my dinosaur (and the other character cakes), we piped in the outline, then filled the rest of the character with the star tip. Mine didn't come out too badly. I started rushing so my stars are different sizes and there are some gaps in between them. All in all, though, I am proud of myself.

The heart shaped and round cakes were all iced smooth, then given a shell border around the bottom of the cake, and a star border around the top. They then used stencils to create designs on the top of the cakes. The three of us character cake bakers have to learn those techniques next week. I am hoping to practice this week so I'm not behind. I have enough left over icing to practice so I don't really have an excuse not to...

All in all, though, I really did enjoy it. It was work, my hands aren't used to the motion yet, but it was really relaxing. 

And the cake tastes really good too! 

The Adventures in Cake Decorating Continue!

I really love baking!

Matthew gave me the Ultimate Tool Caddy for our first anniversary. It's so pretty! (Yup, I'm a dork.) My mom gave me the course 1 student kit. And I 

have purchased a few... additional items, lol. I now have two spatulas, small straight and large curved, the box of 12 paste colors, a large coupler, and two extra tips (1M for cupcake swirls and the triple star tip). 

We were instructed to bring one cake to class on Tuesday. For the second class, we had the choice of doing either a simple round cake, a simple square cake, or a character cake. Of course, I chose the character cake. Matthew, Nathan, my mom, and I went shopping for pans at Hobby Lobby (since I had a 40% off coupon). We found the same dinosaur pan Matthew had when he was little, and we decided it would be perfect for when Nathan gets bigger.

In the past, I was afraid to make a shaped cake; I have had trouble getting even simple cakes out of their pans in one piece. I actually tried the Wilton Cake Release and it was awesome! Only one small part of the cake stuck to the pan (the part around the dinosaur's teeth), but it came out fairly smoothly. I'm actually impressed. The thing that still has me confused is how to keep the edge of the tail from overbaking, since it is the shallowest part of the cake. 

For the cake itself, I made my Mother-in-law's Silver White Cake. I haven't tasted it yet, but Matthew tells me it smells right and looks right, so hopefully I didn't screw anything up. I might post the recipe on here, if she say's it's ok. (I don't want to give away any family recipes!)

For class, we were instructed to make two batches of icing; one medium consistency and one thin consistency. The class frosting is amazingly thick! And now I know the recipe supermarkets use for their frosting. Next time, now that I know what the textures should be, I think I will try my own butter cream recipe. (In addition, I tried the Wilton Clear Vanilla Extract. That is the only product of theirs I have ever hated. It was just gross. Then again, for imitation Vanilla, it wasn't that bad.)

I can't wait to decorate my cake tomorrow night! Stay tuned for photos!

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Class 1

Last night was my first Wilton Cake Decorating class! It was awesome! We didn't get to do anything yet, just went over what we need for class, how the class works, and stuff about the other classes.

I guess some people take ALL the classes at the same time. I think that is a little too much cake decorating for me. That would be, like 3 or so cakes a week (plus working on flowers and cut outs and stuff). I wouldn't be able to practice anything I learned.

So I am just doing one this month, then maybe do Course 2 in May, 3 in June, Fondant in July, and then Gum Paste in August (they have 5 classes now, plus extra stuff). 

They are also having a special brownie class this month that I'm thinking about taking, but don't tell Matthew! He might shoot me because I'll need/want more stuff! lol, j/k

For my Anniversary present, Matthew bought me the Ultimate Tool Caddy that I wanted, along with the course kit. It's SO awesome! My caddy is a little empty at the moment, but I will fill it up eventually!

Stayed tuned for photos of my upcoming cakes! (And try not to laugh too hard, ok?)

Harvest Restaurant Review

Matthew and I went out to dinner on Sunday for our First Anniversary. We wanted to go someplace new, that had a great menu, and that was not family oriented. After a great deal of searching, we came across a restaurant named Harvest over in St. Louis. It was phenomenal! Words can not express how good that food was!

For starters, we both had the Creamy Potato Leek Soup with White Truffle Oil

Entree (me) Pan roasted Fillet of Baramundi with Mushroom Risotto, Baby Bok Choy and a wild Mushroom Sauce

Entree (Matt) Pan roasted New England Scallops with an Indian Rice Cake

We were too full for dessert. :(

Most of their ingredients are organic, and almost all of them are local as well. They never use anything canned or frozen and it really shows in their food. Their menu constantly changes to reflect the current growing season. I can't wait to go back!

Food:  lllll

Drinks: lllll

Service: lllll

Overall: lllll

Their website: Menu and Spa Menu

You have to go try this place!

Cake Pans

There are 5 shaped cake pans that I want to get for Nathan (and Matthew, because I think he would like them too!).

1. The small, 3D teddy bear made my Wilton. I want that one for Nathan's first birthday.
2. The second is also made by Wilton and is awesome! It's a 3D Choo-Choo Train. 
3. Nordic Ware mini dinosaur pan. (They have it at some Targets, but it's not online.) Honestly, I would love to have any Nordic Ware pan! 
4. I love the Williams Sonoma railway pan, which is a series of mini cakes that forms a train.
5. Finally, Sur La Table's Airplane cake mold is really cool.

I get to buy one for my cake class, which starts next Tuesday! I'm so excited! 

I know, I know, I'm a dork. To revel in my dorkiness, I also want the R2-D2 shaped cake pan made by Wilton. Just for me, lol. They don't make it anymore, though, and it costs about $40 on ebay, so it's not in my plan.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake

Serves 10-12

1.5 cups Vegetable Oil

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups unbleached flour

3 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups finely grated carrots

1.5 cups chopped walnuts (optional- I didn't put them in)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the oil and eggs until light and full of bubbles. 
3. Beat in the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until it is all mixed. Then add vanilla.
4. In a seperate bowl, blend together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. 
5. Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
6. Fold in the carrots and nuts.
7. Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 cake pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
8. Let cake cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 to 1/2 cup of butter (depending on texture. I use about 1/2 cup)

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

3.5 cups confectioner's sugar (I find it too sweet this way, so I only use 2.5)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 cup minced ginger candy or 1 tsp ground ginger (optional)

milk to make the frosting spreadable

Instructions:

1. Combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.
2. Add sugar gradually, stirring well.
3. Stir in nuts and ginger, if desired. (I don't generally use them, but they do taste good added.)
4. Add milk, a little at a time, until frosting is a spreadable consistency.
5. Makes enough for a 10x14 cake.
6. Store in refrigerator. 

I really liked this cake; it is moist and the texture is smooth. Next time, I will try it with the ginger frosting.

Celtic Saying of the Day

May you always have walls for the winds, 

a roof for the rain, tea beside a fire,

laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

and all your heart might desire.

Wilton Cake Decorating Classes

So I have decided to take the cake decorating classes at Michael's in either March or April this year. (It depends on when we are visiting family.) I am so excited about it too! I've always loved baking and this will make it look as good as it tastes! I hope...

AND I get to buy stuff! I haven't bought anything non baby related in a year! (It will be a year the second week of March.)

I get to buy a cake decorating set. I want the Wilton 50 piece tool set that comes in a caddy; it has everything I need for class plus a bunch of extras. I need the icing spatulas as well. I am also contemplating the turntable to make decorating easier, the cyclone whisk, and a 3-star icing tip. Eventually I want the ultimate caddy; it looks  so much better then the tackle box you get with the set and it organizes everything better. The caddy I will be getting is pictured above. 

My ultimate goal is to be able to make Nathan's first birthday cake myself. The one I want to make is a small teddy bear. I can't decide whether to make it a brown bear or a panda bear. I have a while to decide though.

Broccoli Casserole

Broccoli Casserole

Serves 8

1 10 oz package of frozen broccoli

1/2 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated sharp cheese

pepper to taste

crushed Ritz crackers for topping

2 Tbsp butter

Instructions:

1. Cook broccoli for 5 minutes in boiling, salted water. Drain well.
2. Combine soup, mayo, eggs, cheese, and pepper in small bowl. Mix well.
3. Add broccoli.
4. Place mixture in a greased, 1 qt baking dish.
5. Sprinkle with Ritz crackers and dot with butter.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until it bubbles and browns.

I LOVE this recipe. I can eat an entire dish in one setting. As soon as I can eat broccoli again I am making a batch just for me. :) (I am breast feeding and broccoli upsets my son's tummy... so no broccoli, cauliflower, or chocolate. Booo.)

Celtic Saying of the Day

May you have food and raiment,

a soft pillow for your head,

and may you be forty years in heaven 

before the devil knows you're dead!

Cheesy Meatloaf

Cheesy Meatloaf

Serves 8-10

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 T. butter

2 lbs ground beef

1 cup (8 oz can) tomato sauce

2 eggs, beaten

4 oz cheddar or American cheese (I add more)

1 cup soft bread crumbs

1/4 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions:

1. Saute onion and green pepper until soft.
2. Remove from heat. 
3. Mix with other ingredients, blending well.
4.  Shape into loaf and place in 10"x14" pan (I use a meatloaf pan so the grease drains out)
5. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

My mom got this recipe from a really old cookbook called "Yankee's Main Dish Church Supper Book." It makes really good leftovers. (I prefer it without the onion and pepper... but to each his own.)

Celtic Saying of the Day

May you have love that never ends,

lots of money, and lots of friends.

Health be yours, whatever you do,

and may God send many blessings to you!

Chicken Stroganoff with Spatzle

Chicken Stroganoff with Spatzle

Serves 4

For the Stroganoff:

  450g (.99 lbs) chicken breast, cut into thin strips

  2 tsp smoked paprika

  50ml (a little less then 1/4 cup) olive oil

  1 finely sliced onion

  3 crushed garlic cloves

  1 sliced green pepper

  Button Mushrooms, quartered (we used a whole package)

  150ml (2/3 cup) chicken stock

  Splash of white wine

  50ml (a little less then 1/4 cup) sour cream

  70g (.15 lbs)sugar snap peas, blanched

  Flat leaf parsley, large handful, chopped

For the Spatzle:

  150g (.3 lbs or just over 1 cup) plain flour

  1 whole egg, plus 2 yolk, beaten

  45ml (.19 cups or just under 1/4 cup) milk

  45ml (.19 cups or just under 1/4 cup) water

  1 tsp salt

  1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (we used jarred)

  Knob of butter to serve

Instructions:

1. To make spatzle, sift the flour and add the salt and nutmeg. Beat the egg and egg yolk together. Mix egg with flour to form paste. Mix the milk and water, add continually until it forms a thick batter.
2. Boil a pan of water. Rest a colander over the top of the pan. Pour the batter into the colander and push it through the holes with the spatula. Do this in one or two batches. (You can also use a potato ricer by inserting the specific perforated disk, but we used the colander.) Simmer the spatzle for a minute or so, then remove with a slotted spoon on to a plate to cool.
3. Sprinkle the chicken with smoked paprika and season. In a hot pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and pan fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and three quarters cooked. Put to one side to rest.
4. Reheat the frying pan with fresh olive oil, saute the onion and garlic until tender, then add the peppers and mushrooms. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with white wine, add a ladle of chicken stock and bring to boil. And the sour cream and mix through.
5. Add the cooked chicken (and any extra juices) into the sauce and bring back to a boil. Add more chicken stock if it is drying out.
6. Finally, mix the sugar snap peas and flat leaf parsley through the dish. 
7. Meanwhile, in a separate pan melt some butter, season the spatzle with oil, salt, and pepper. Saute the cooked spatzle until golden brown.
8. Serve the stroganoff in warm bowls and sprinkle spatzle on top.

My husband found this German style recipe on Ramsey's "The F Word" website. A link to the recipe is Smoked Paprika Chicken Stroganoff Recipe | Food | Channel4.com. (The F Word's actual website was down when I was writing this.)

Celtic Saying of the Day:

May the sun shine, all day long,

everything go right, and nothing wrong.

May those you love bring love back to you,

and may all the wishes you wish come true!

Salmon with Lime

Salmon with Lime

1 salmon fillet (usually just under 1 pound)

2 Large Limes

Sesame Seeds

Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Wash and place salmon in baking dish. Salt and pepper the fish.

3. Squeeze limes over the fish. (More lime is better to me, but not everyone else.)

4. Sprinkle sesame seeds over fish.

5. Bake uncovered for 17 minutes (or until fish is cooked through).

6. Serve!

Serves 2 people.

We usually serve it with white sticky rice, steamed broccoli, and sauteed mushrooms. 

Welcome!

I've created this blog to share my love of cooking, photography, graphic design, and all things Celtic. I will post my favorite recipes, images, and sayings throughout the upcoming months. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! 

Traditional Irish Blessing:

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again, 

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you; 

May you see your children's children.

May you be poor in misfortune,

Rich in blessings,

May you know nothing but happiness

From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back.

May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home

And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,

May blue be the skies above you,

May pure be the joys that surround you,

May true be the hearts that love you.