Mother's Day Dinner

My very sweet husband & awesome brother Shaman made mother's day dinner tonight & it was awesome! They made some of my favorite recipes, quiche & homemade lemon bars! It was awesome & so thoughtful.

Quiche Lorraine

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

12 slices bacon

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/3 cup minced onion

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups light cream

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white sugar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:: 1 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

2 Place bacon in a large skillet, and fry over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels, then chop coarsely. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion into pastry shell.

3 In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. Pour mixture into pastry shell.

4 Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake an additional 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Allow quiche to sit 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

Then he used the same recipe except substituted broccoli & cheddar for the bacon, onions & swiss.

Lemon Bars

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour1

/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS:

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.Combine the flour, 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and butter. Pat dough into prepared pan.

3.Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly golden. While the crust is baking, whisk together eggs, white sugar, flour, and lemon juice until frothy. Pour this lemon mixture over the hot crust.

4.Return to the preheated oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares.

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

My Dad loves all things banana, so I always have my eye open for new banana things to try. One look at the picture of Paula Dean's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding online & I was sold. Then I just had to wait for a good reason to make a big pan of this not so diet friendly stuff. We went to a BBQ tonight to hang out with my friend Janet who's in town, so it was the perfect opportunity. This recipe was all I dreamed it would be. So creamy & rich & the cookies make it so delicious. I took a picture of the top and the bottom of the pan. I put the cookies in so you could see the pictures on them from either side.

Mom, if you're reading this this is definitely something Dad would love!

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies

6 to 8 bananas, sliced (I used 3 bananas sliced thin & I think it was plenty)

2 cups milk 1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding (I couldn't find a 5-oz box, so I used 1 & 2/3 boxes of the 3-oz size. I think it would be really good with banana pudding to give it that extra banana punch.)

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Last Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You Will EVER Need!

Until recently I didn't have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I used every time. None of the recipes I'd tried were amazing, or I would make them one time & they would be great & then I would make them again & they would just be so so. So about a year ago I was watching the Food Network & Alton Brown did a show about chocolate chip cookies where he made 3 different recipes & by varying the amount of brown sugar to white sugar he used, melted butter vs. soft & a few other things the cookies all came out completely different. One cake like, one chewy & one thin. I don't really like cakey cookies, so I decided to try the chewy & thin. I like my cookies to be chewy in the middle & have a crispy outside. I tried the chewy & they were a little to cakey for my liking. Then I tried the thin & I have never made another recipe of chocolate chip cookies again! They are my perfect chocolate chip cookie. A couple of keys I think while making them is to leave the mixer on throughout the entire mixing process (except to scrape down the bowl). I think it gives them a lighter finish. These cookies are heaven. I usually just use chocolate chips in them, but the cookies in this pictures are of the last time I made them & I put white chocolate chunks & macadamia nuts in them. So so so good!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (The Thin)
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies User Rating:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 ounces milk (1/4 c)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Combine the egg, milk, and vanilla and bring to room temperature in another bowl. Cream the butter in the mixer's work bowl, starting on low speed to soften the butter. Add the sugars. Increase the speed, and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add the egg mixture slowly. Increase the speed and mix until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for more even browning. Remove the cookies from the pans immediately. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

Lasagna...finally!

I called this post lasagna...finally because I finally got a recipe for lasagna that worked for me. I love lasagna. It's one of the few things I will eat leftovers off. Everytime I've tried to make it though it turns out too runny or too dry. It's something that's been driving me crazy for years! How hard can it be! In our family growing up we usually had Stoffer's lasagna & I love it. In Matt's family his mom always made great lasagna though. So I decided to tackle it one more time. I looked up a ton of different recipes & read a bunch of reviews & then came up with a recipe by taking small parts of many different recipes & it turned out delicious! Yeah, finally! It was really hearty, plenty of cheese & not dry, but not runny. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! So here's the recipe:

Lasagna...finally!

1/2 large onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

1 lb ground chuck

1 lb ground pork

1 small can crushed tomatoes

1 small can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 T dried basil

1/2 T dried parsley

1/2 T dried oregano

salt to taste

15 oz ricotta cheese

1 egg

3/4 c chopped spinach (thawed & drained)

1/2 c parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 c mozarella, shredded

1 lb mozarella in thin slices

1 package, no boil, oven ready lasagna sheets

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add chuck and pork and cook until done. Add 3 cans of tomatoes, dried herbs & salt. Let it simmer on the stove for about 10 mins. Taste the sauce & adjust seasonings. In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta, egg, spinach, parmesan & mozarella.

Take a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cover the bottom with a thin layer of the red sauce. Put a layer of noodles down next. Cover with half the ricotta mixture. Then put a layer of the sliced cheese. Then another sauce layer, noodle layer, ricotta layer, cheese layer & then pour the rest of the sauce on top & top with the remaining mozarella.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 with foil tented over the top (so it doesn't touch the cheese). Then bake for another 30 minutes uncovered. I put my casserole pan on top of a cookie sheet because the casserole pan was filled to the brim. I didn't have any spill over, but better to be safe than sorry.

Nothing like homemade bread & a bowl full of soup

Yesterday Maddie & I went and picked strawberries at a local orchard with our friends. We came home & made freezer jam & I thought we need some of my moms homemade wheat bread to go along with this & then in the middle of making the bread I thought we also need some homemade soup to go along with the bread! So that's what we had for dinner & it was so so yummy. This soup is one of Matt's favorite dinners & the wheat bread is a recipe my mom & dad have cooked for years. It's a family favorite.

I'm at that point in my pregnancy where I'm burning up hot all the time, so halfway through dinner as I wiped the sweat from my brow I told Matt I can't do hot soup anymore until this little guy is born. The soup, bread & jam were definitely worth the heat though.

Whole Wheat Bread

8 cups warm water

1 1/2 c honey

2 T yeast

10 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 t salt

Put all ingredients in mixer. Let them knead together for 3-4 mins. Then add more flour until the dough leaves the side of the bowl (about 8-10 cups more). Place dough in Pam sprayed pans. Let double. Bake at 325 until bread sounds hollow when tapped on top. About 25 mins.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

1 Whole Chicken

Boil with a few vegetables to flavor the soup. I usually use celery, onions & carrots + 2 t salt. Bring the chicken to a boil & then let simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours. Remove chicken and debone, chop & set aside in fridge while you make the noodles. Keep the broth simmering. My mom use to blend the veggies in the broth so we wouldn't pick out the veggies. I haven't had to do that yet. You can add bouillon if you want more flavor.

Noodles

2 c flour 2 eggs

1/2 t salt 4 egg shells of water

Put flour and salt in a bowl, add eggs and water and stir until well mixed. Dump out on floured surface and roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut strips of the dough and put them in the simmering broth. Continue until all the noodles are in & add the chicken & let simmer for about 5 mins.

Uniquely Creamy Mac 'n Cheese

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to my mom and she said she had found this really unique and delicious macaroni and cheese. My family that lives in AZ has an extended family dinner every Sunday. They rotate having it at different peoples houses in the family. When it was at my cousin Stefani's house a little while ago she asked my mom to bring macaroni and cheese. My mom is an excellent cook, but she hadn't made mac & cheese before, so she googled best macaroni and cheese recipe. She found a link to a project that a New York Times reporter did to try to find the best mac & cheese recipe ever & this is the recipe he settled on. My mom decided to try it and not long after she brought it to Stefani's house she was asked to bring it again & everyone wanted to know who made the mac & cheese.

Matt LOVES homemade macaroni & cheese so I knew I had to try this recipe & it did not disappoint. It was creamy, delicious and not low cal or low fat (exactly as a good mac & cheese should be!). The recipe is very unique, hence the reason I gave it the name I did. You blend all the ingredients except the noodles & cheese & the noodles are baked raw. Definitely a keeper!

(Sorry about the pic, it's not too appetizing looking, but I promise you will love it.)

Macaroni & Cheese

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)

2 cups milk (not skim)

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Pinch cayenne

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

½ pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.2. In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together. Reserve ¼ cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes. 3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

The BEST Snickerdoodles

Our friends Jill & Hannah came into town this weekend & we got to make Jill's famous snickerdoodles! This is probably my favorite cookie recipe. They're the perfect amount of sweet & they just melt in your mouth (must be the crisco! ;)). One of the tricks is to under cook them a little bit.

Jill's Snickerdoodles

1 c Crisco

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 c flour

2 t cream of tartar

1/2 t salt

1 t baking soda

sugar

cinnamon

Cream the Crisco, sugar and egg together. Mix the dry ingredients together & then add them to the wet ingredients & mix well. Roll the dough into balls & coat them in a mixture of cinnamon & sugar. Bake them at 375 for 6-8 mins.

Sticky Bun MESS!

Mess!

First of all let me say that since I started this blog every recipe I've tried to make has been a mess! I take pictures as I'm making something, so excited to write about my new invention & then...yuck!

One of the shows I love on the Food Network is Throwdown with Bobby Flay. He basically challenges people that are well know for making a particular item really well. I was watching his sticky bun episode a couple of weeks ago & my mouth was watering as I watched his challenger make her sticky buns. Here's the website with her recipe & a picture of the buns. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_37125,00.html
& here is the website for her bakery in Boston: http://www.flourbakery.com/flour_bakery_chef.htm

So with everything you have to do for these sticky buns it was going to take me about 10 HOURS to make them, but they looked so good on the show I decided to try. I got all the ingredients needed after park play day today & when Madeline went down for her nap I was ready to start. I put all the ingredients for the dough (except the butter per the directions) into my mixer & let it fly. The directions said to mix for 10 mins. Well after about 1 minute of mixing the dough started flying out of the top of my Bosch in golf ball size chunks! For the next 4 minutes I kept running around & putting the flying dough back into the mixer (you can imagine the sight). After 5 mins I said forget it I'm adding the butter, maybe that will help. Big mistake! I should have cut my losses then. I added the softened butter & turned the mixer back on. Well all the butter did was create a nice slick environment for the stiff dough to fly around the bowl in! Seconds later the butter started pouring out of the Bosch between the bowl & the lid. I was scraping the butter back into the bowl with my hands fast as it was flowing out (again, you can imagine the picture). I thought maybe it just needs a minute or so. Wrong again! The fiasco never ended. I tried to knead the butter into the dough myself...mess mess mess! I decided to cut my losses & had to throw it all away. So sad. I have a theory about recipes from restaurants. I think the restaurant leaves out a few things, or makes the steps more difficult than they need to be so you have to go eat the food in the restaurant & can't easily make it at home. Not that I'm blaming them, it's their prize recipe. I've had a lot of restaurant recipes turn out, but they were much more simple than this one. I should have known when I looked at the recipe & saw that she has some measurements in cups & some in ounces & other things. I think it's to throw you off a little.

NEVER FEAR! This small hiccup didn't get me down. I decided to go to a tried & true recipe, my cousin Stefani's white bread recipe that also I use for cinnamon rolls. I decided I would make those & just bake them in the goo Joanne Chang bakes her sticky buns in. They turned out great. I think next time I will only use a quarter of the water she puts in her goo (I've adjusted the recipe below to reflect that), because it was a little watery, but once they were baked & cooled they tasted like pecan cinnamon rolls wrapped in a light toffee blanket. Yum! I had some dough that didn't fit into the pans with the goo, so I made my regular cinnamon roll frosting to go on top & they were great too.

If you want to try Joanne Chang's full recipe for the sticky buns, you can click on the Food Network Link above. You might have better luck that me, especially if you've made Brioche before.

If you want a great roll recipe here is my cousins recipe & then after I've added how I made them into the stick buns & after that I put my cinnamon roll topping if you'd rather just try cinnamon rolls.

Right before going into the oven...

Right after coming out of the oven...

Finished product!!

Recipes:

Kerstin's Try, Try & Try Again Sticky Buns! ;)

Stefani's White Bread

Pour:

1 1/2 c boiling water over

1 cube butter

After melted:

Add 1 c sugar

1/4 c yeast - yes you read it right! (I make sure the water has cooled down to a temp that won't kill the yeast before I add it.

1 t salt

5 oz can evaporated milk

4 c flour (start with 4 cups & adjust to a nice not too sticky not too dry bread dough)

Mix or knead together. Let double & punch down. Make into as many loaves, rolls or bread bowls as you want. Let rise again & bake at 350 until golden brown. Continue on if you want to make the sticky buns or cinnamon rolls...

For sticky buns & cinnamon rolls:

1 stick butter

1 1/2 c brown sugar

cinnamon

pecans (optional)

raisins (optional)

2 medium size roasting pans (I got the disposable ones in the grocery store. You can use Pyrex, but you will probably need 4 of them for this recipe.)

Once the dough has risen & you've punched it down, take 1/2 the dough and roll it out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Rub 1/2 stick melted butter all over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle 3/4 c packed brown sugar over the butter. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the cinnamon (I used pecan's for the sticky buns. I usually don't use anything but the sugar & cinnamon & butter on cinnamon rolls. Sometimes raisins because Matt likes them.) Roll up the dough & cut it in about 1 1/2 - 2 inch sections. Place the sticky buns into your baking dish on top of the goo (recipe below) and bake for about 20 minutes or until a medium dark golden brown (you want to let it get a little darker than normal to make sure the other end in the goo gets fully cooked). Let the pan rest for about 10 minutes before inverting the pan to get the buns out onto waxed paper (my goo was a little too runny, so I flipped each bun out individually & then poured a little of the goo still in the pan onto each roll. Once they're completely cooled you can flip them back over onto your serving pan. They look prettier that way.

If you're doing straight cinnamon rolls then just put the rolled & sliced dough onto a sprayed cookie sheet or whatever pan you're using & bake them for about 15 mins, or until light golden brown. Take them off the pan immediately & cover with as much frosting as you like (recipe follows)

Sticky Bun Goo (I adjusted the original recipe to something that will be more firm. You can go back to the original recipe on the Food Network site if you want to try that):

2 sticks butter

2 lbs brown sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 c honey

1/4 c water

Melt butter and brown sugar together over medium heat in a saucepan. Once melted together & halfway cooled add the other ingredients until well mixed. Pour half into each of the roasting pans (or into fourths depending on what size pans you're using).

Cinnamon Roll Frosting:

1 stick butter melted

1 t cinnamon

1 bag powdered sugar

1/2 c warm milk +

Wisk the cinnamon and powdered sugar into the melted butter. Add milk & wisk. Add more milk if needed until you get to a nice medium thick consistency that will adhere well to the cinnamon roll. Spoon over the hot cinnamon rolls right out of the oven.

Super Brownies, Curry & Rolls!

Last night we had the Wadsworth's & Shaman over for dinner/moving help. I decided to try 3 new recipes! Madness! For dinner I knew I wanted to make this delicious non spicy simple curry my cousin Niki made for us when we recently visited them in Utah. I also wanted to make some Poni PoPo rolls that my cousins the Sadowski's are famous for making. They're Rhodes rolls that rise & are baked in a mixture of coconut milk & sugar. They're addicting! I couldn't decide what to make for dessert. I was talking to my mom a few days ago & she mentioned that at the last family dinner they went to in Arizona my cousin made these brownies that got rave reviews. I aspire to be able to cook as good as my mom some day, so any recipe she says is good, I'm for sure going to try! Everything turned out delicious! The rolls & curry were as good as I remembered them to be & the brownies were perfectly moist, dense & chewy. The recipes & pictures are below. I forgot to take a picture of the rolls, so I will do that next time I make them & post pics then.




Super Natural Super Moist Brownies


16 tablespoons butter
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Put the butter and chocolate in a double boiler and heat on med high until melted together. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs. Add salt, sugars, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and butter mixture. Fold in flour and nuts.Pour batter into a 9″x13″ pan that has been lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray. Spread batter evenly in pan.Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The top will form a shiny crust and the batter will be moderately firm. I like to turn the oven off for the last 5 mins of baking & keep the brownies in there. I find it keeps the moisture in & makes them a little more dense & chewy.





Curried Coconut Chicken
2 lb chicken breasts, cubed
1 ½ T Vegetable oil
2 T curry powder
½ onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 red or green bell peppers, cubed (I julienned mine)
8 oz tomato sauce
14 oz coconut milk (I put 28 oz to make more saucy, Niki & Kim both suggested this)
14 oz diced tomatoes (I put 28 oz as Niki & Kim also suggested)
3 T sugar
Season chicken with S & P. Heat oil and curry powder in large skillet over med/high heat for 2 min. Stir in onions and garlic (* and bell peppers, if added). Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat. Reduce heat to medium and cook 10 min, until chicken is no longer pink. Mix in tomato sauce, coconut milk, stewed (or diced) tomatoes, sugar and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally approximately 30-40 min. Serves: 6



Poni PoPo
15 frozen rolls (Rhodes work great)
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
Spray an 9 x 13 Pyrex/casserole dish with cooking spray. Mix coconut milk and sugar together. Pour the coconut milk mixture into the casserole dish. Put the rolls in the pan on top of the milk mixture and let rise for 3 hours. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and done.