I'd like to pause for a second...

I'd like to take a minute and say how much I'd like to come back in another life as a cat...cats like mine.
The ones who are stretched out on my bed all morning sleeping in the sun.
The ones who just give me the cute face and get some yummy treat handed to them.
The ones who bat at my feet at 3 am as I'm trying to climb blindly back into bed.
Yes I'd like to be my cats in my next life.

Craving....

I'm like everyone else, and always looking for the best of the best. I LOVE potato salad! LOVE IT! So when I found this recipe in a cookbook called Cheap. Fast. Easy. I fell even harder for potato salad. If your like me, and don't really love the gritty, bland potato salad in the little tubs at the store, and you like lots of flavor..try this one. I love all the flavors and textures. Its absolutely amazing! Now the picture I'm posting doesn't do it justice. One- because it was my husband's first attempt at cooking potato salad and he cut the potatoes too small and they got cooked to death Two- because we used russet potatoes instead of the better red skinned (but it still went in our mouths just as quick) Three- your supposed to mix the egg in..I didn't want to wait for the hubby to peel 6 eggs before I got it one our plates lol. But its is to die for!

Publish Post

MM sandwiches (see other post) and potato salad

 Mrs. McDaniel's Southern Potato Salad

6 medium red skinned potatoes

1 medium-sized onion

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 t. cider vinegar

1 t. prepared mustard

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon of celery seed or celery seed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/4 cup sweet pickle relish, drained

1 hard boiled egg

2 large ribs of celery (about 1 cup diced)

Bring 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil in a covered 6 quart pot over high heat.

While the water is heating, scrub the potatoes and cut them up into 1/2" pieces.

When the water comes to a boil, add the potatoes, cover the pot, and bring the water back to a boil.

Then uncover the pot, reduce the heat to medium high, and cook at a moderate boil until the potatoes are tender, about 13-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the onion and grate it on the smallest hole of a box grater (I'm also chopped it small and added it) into a large bowl, until you have 1-2 Tablespoons of grated onion and juice.

Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, celery seed/salt, black pepper, and pickle relish. 

Whisk until well combined.

When the potatoes are tender, drain them well into a colander and let them cool until they are just warm,not hot. Add them to the bowl and stir till they are coated with the mayonnaise mixture.

Peel and finely chop the egg and add it to the bowl. Dice the celery and add it to the bowl. 

Stir to mix well. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.

*I use celery seed and love it!! Its not hard to find, its just in the regular spice isle at your grocery store.

Then I also use more than one egg...I love eggs in my potato salad so I do like 4-6. And you'll really only need about 1/2 an onion and you won't even have to grate all of it.

Trying new things...

Months before Christmas came, I was working hard on learning how to cook new and exciting dishes. I was scouring cookbooks everywhere I went, but I kept coming to recipes that required 9" springform pans and non-glass loaf pans, and food processors. I've come to realize that cooking is much like my hobby of scrapbooking. There is a gadget for everything, then your go to items that you have to have (a good set of pots, spoons, a grater, knives, etc.), and then there are speciality items...to me it a zester, or a food processor. But even though they are speciality, they still come up in a lot of recipes, and would prove VERY useful. So my Christmas list ended up being alot of baking and cooking items. Loafs pans, cookbooks, springform pans, etc. Lucky for me my family was listening! Or they were looking forward to some good meals...thanks Nick lol! Either way I ended up with until now elusive 9" springform pan. But what to do? I'd never made a cheesecake, and there are a million recipes out there.

After scouring the internet, and many cookbooks, I decided on a hybrid of two cheesecakes. (Now I'm getting tricky since before I'd never do this for fear of gross failure..now I just accept that disaster may follow me into whatever I do, but I can't not do it because of fear) So here is my recipe for Caramel Brownie Cheesecake. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!

CARAMEL BROWNIE CHEESECAKE

1- 13X9 BROWNIE MIX, MIXED TO DIRECTIONS ON BOX

1-14 OZ PACKAGE OF CARAMELS (KRAFT IS BEST)

1- 5OZ CAN OF EVAPORATED MILK

2- 8OZ PACKAGES OF CREAM CHEESE, SOFTENED

1/2 CUP OF SUGAR

1 TEASPOON OF VANILLA

2 EGGS

1/2 C. FINELY CHOPPED PECANS (OPTIONAL)

1 CUP OF FUDGE TOPPING

Baked Brownie Layer

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350*. 

GREASE BOTTOM OF 9" SPRINGFORM PAN.

IN A SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER BROWNIE MIX ACCORDING TO BOX DIRECTIONS.

SPREAD INTO PAN AND BAKE FOR 20-25 MINUTES (IT CAN BE A LITTLE UNDONE IN THE MIDDLE SINCE IT WILL COOK MORE)

CHILL/COOL THIS LAYER BEFORE PUTTING CARAMEL ON TOP.

MELT CARAMELS AND EVAPORATED MILK OVER LOW HEAT IN A HEAVY SAUCEPAN.

Melting Caramels

STIR OFTEN, AND HEAT UNTIL MIXTURE IS SMOOTH.

POUR 1/3 OF A CUP OF THE CARAMEL MIXTURE IN A DISH TO SAVE FOR LATER.

POUR MIXTURE OVER COOLED BROWNIE LAYER. 

SPRINKLE WITH PECANS IF DESIRED.

CHILL (ABOUT 30 MINUTES) BEFORE ADDING CHEESECAKE LAYER.

IN A LARGE BOWL, BEAT THE CREAM CHEESE, SUGAR, AND VANILLA UNTIL SMOOTH.

Cheesecake Layer Ready to Bake

ADD EGGS, ONE AT A TIME, BEATING WELL AFTER EACH ADDITION.

POUR CREAM CHEESE OVER CARAMEL LAYER. 

BAKE FOR 40 MINUTES.

CHILL IN PAN.

WHEN THOROUGHLY CHILLED, RUN A KNIFE AROUND THE EDGE, AND REMOVE RIM.

HEAT RESERVED CARAMEL AND FUDGE TOPPING AND DRIZZLE OVER PIECE.

ENJOY!!

Completed Cheesecake

*Mine did come out a bit doughy in the middle of
the brownie layer, but I increase the baking time on
my recipe written here so that shouldn't be an issue.

Scrap Pages Part One

Isabelle's Kindergarten Winter Concert

Apple Picking at Nana and Papa's House

 I have been trying to scrap a page a day for the 2011 year. I have piles and baskets full of paper and supplies, some that I love so much I don't even want to use them..how stupid is that? This year will be different though. I am going to have to use up alot of supplies and FINALLY start to get my boxes of photo scrapped into albums. These are my first 10 pages. There is no theme or rhyme or reason to my selections. I just pick out my photo and then go on to paper. Its just whatever I'm feeling at the moment. Most of these pages still need the journaling, but I figure as long as they are 95% done they qualify lol! I'll have plenty of time to get the rest of the journaling done. I have a huge word block when I try and sit down and write about an event or photo. I don't know what format to write it in, and the words get jumbled in my head. But I'm thinking every couple of weeks I'll take an hour and sit down at the computer and do my writing. So we have pages from winter concerts, apple picking at my mom's house, backyard camping we did this past summer, Frankie our cat, when he was a baby, Izzy's dance group for last year, and a few more. So here we go. The first 10 pages. I'll post the next 10 once I catch up. I have 2 more to do. When I got my job I feel behind on the scrapping, but luckily its early enough that I can pick it right back up. :)

Frankie as a kitten

Our Family Fishes

Nick's favorite Baby Picture of Isabelle

Isabelle's Tap Dance Group

Breakfast of Champions Award

Backyard Camping

Way Behind!!

So I know I've been slacking. You'd think with the holidays I would have been on here posting a storm of delicious cookies, cakes, brownies, fudge, and whatever sweet made me gain 5 pounds lol. But I didn't. The Christmas season was crazy between family coming and going, having pink eye TWICE, and then trying to wrap and prep a beautiful Christmas. I had ideas of posting all my treats and Christmas cards...but did I? Obviously not.

So first things first... HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2010 was less than pleasant for me and my family. We went through alot of ups and downs, but we got through it safe and sound. 2011 is already turning out to be a wonderful year. I got a job! First one in 8 years, other than doing daycare. I'll get a paycheck and have extra money to get the extra things we desire, along with saving money for school so hopefully I can attend next fall.  I start tomorrow, and its not that I'm nervous about the job, but more about making sure Isabelle is taken care of, and has care for the day I have to stay later, and on the weekends when Nick and I will both work.  But I haven't got my schedule yet, so I'm trying my best to keep it together and set things up now.  Plus now its snowing! Grrr! I'm not a snow driver...I've driven in it twice and that's it. So it will be a learning experience for me I guess. But that's what I'm most nervous about today.

I've come to find a really great friend here the past couple months. The one thing that I truly needed. Hermiston has been less than welcoming as far as friends go. Everyone seems to have their circle, and are too busy to add you to it. That's not to say I don't have friends, but I've been missing that one person that you can count on to listen to you if your having a bad day. I have that with my bestie, Jaime, but she lives 5 hours away and we can't just grab coffee. I'm grateful for all my friends, and to have one near.

Then the hubby has seemed to realize that overtime money would be helpful, and now it would be pretty much extra cash. It wouldn't have to go to bills and groceries with me working, so he's all motivated to get it done lol! He's happy with the Seahawks Wild Card Playoff win, and is proudly loving his Seahawks Man Cave! I'll have to post pics once we're done painting. (Though I have one closet in there full of my stuff lol.)

Isabelle is in her new school, happy as can be. Huge gym, new computers, and cubbies that will keep her belongings separated so there's less risk of lice. Gross right! But its true. So she's busy getting back in the swing of things after the lazy holidays.

Now as for cooking I have wonderful family who obviously supports me in all my endeavors. I received a stack of cookbooks, bowls, loaf pans, springform pans, spoons, tupperware. All to benefit my cooking skills. I've yet to tackle a cheesecake, but I'm going to find the perfect recipe and make it. I'm so excited to start my cooking again, although with work I'm going to start off with a lot of slow cooker recipes, but I'm thinking this would help everyone right now. Everyone needs slow cooker recipes when its cold out (or heck I use mine in the summer too cause I don't want to heat up the house). So look for those this week.

And last but not least. I am doing 365 days of scrapbooking. I'm doing 365 pages, 1 page a day. I'm going to post them, but I'm think probably once a week. I just figured I have a ton of supplies and a million excuses for not finishing a page. So this way I'm motivated.

So that's the catch up, now to get moving on new recipes, and old...and definitely more postings!

A great day to spend in the kitchen!

So I've contracted nasty pink eye, and have to wear my glasses that are too weak, and make me nuts. Lovely. Thank you to my wonderful husband for giving the pink eye to me. Regardless...my daughter went Christmas shopping with her Grandma all day today, while I sat at urgent care (luckily it was empty other than one other poor soul), got some drops, and have began the OCD hand washing the minute I got home. Therefore I figured it was safe to do some cooking. I've been come the cookie lady for Nick and his buddies at work. They were completely bummed I didn't send him with anything today, so I had to make up for it.

I spent the early afternoon making Butter Toffee Crisp, another recipe from my mother in law's cookbook collection. We go there every Monday and have dinner with her, and while we hang out and Nick watches Monday Night Football, I copy recipes from her 100+ cookbook collection. Then I knew I needed to make a cookie that I knew would turn out good. So I went with peanut butter peanut butter cup cookies. Um YUM! With all this baking and candy making, I was sure to look at my toes, while the nurse weighed me at Urgent Care (because when I get weighed I make sure to take off my shoes...that few ounces really makes a difference LOL) I told the nurse not to tell me what it said, since its December and I wasn't planning on being weighed this month. She cracked up. I think she knew the feeling.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

3/4 t. baking soda

1 1/2 c.flour

30-40 peanut butter cups

Combine the first 6 ingredients till fluffy. Then add in the rest of the ingredients slowly. 

Rolls the dough into 1" balls and place in greased mini-muffin pan (with or without papers)

Bake at 375* F for 10 minutes.

Take out and place a mini peanut butter cup in the middle. 

Let cool completely in the pan.

*This is the easiest recipe for those of you who rarely bake..simple and yummy!

Butter Toffee Crunch

1 c. sugar

1 c. butter

3 T. water

1 T. light corn syrup

1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans or almonds

3/4 c. chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)

1/2 c. finely chopped pecans or almonds

Cover a 13" x 9" baking pan with foil. 

Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped nuts all over the pan.

Grease a large saucepan with butter on all sides and bottom.

Melt butter on medium high heat. 

Once melted add in sugar, water, and corn syrup. 

Stir till boiling. Turn heat down to medium.

Then clip candy thermometer to side of the pan, and watch carefully.

Let boil/simmer steadily, while frequently stirring.

Watch when temperature get to about 280*, once it hits 290* (I'm going to try 300* next time since mine was a tad soft)

Remove from heat, and pour the mixture over the nuts on the prepared pan. 

Wait 5 minutes while it firms up. Then sprinkle chocolate chips all over the toffee. 

Wait 1-3 minutes till they melt. 

Then spread over the toffee till smooth, then spread the finely chopped nuts on top.

Put in the fridge to firm completely.

Lift up foil and separate slowly from toffee and break into pieces.

Heaven in a Cupcake Wrapper!

I'm going to gloat! These are seriously amazing!!! I couldn't even resist them once I started to take them out of the pan to cool! I got this recipe from my mother in law's recipe collection. This is the best thing I've baked in a while to be honest and I can't see them lasting long in my house lol!  Make sure that you put the 2 T. of cream cheese filling in so that it doesn't cave in like mine. Regardless, the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips are an amazing secret ingredient that takes these above the cream cheese muffins you normally have.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Muffins

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/8 t. salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter chips

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in sugar, egg, and salt until smooth.
Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips; set aside.

Muffin dough:
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 T. white vinegar
1 t. vanilla extract

Combine. Then add:

1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

Mix together, and spoon into paper-lined muffin cups till about half full. Top with about 2 T. cream cheese mixture. (This seems like a lot but you need it, I didn't and mine sort of cave in). Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, and then remove them and place them on wire racks to cool completely.
* Spray the inside of the cupcake wrappers with non-stick spray to have moist outsides.

Stuffins!

I got this recipe before Thanksgiving from www.dealseekingmama.com, she has everything from online deals (I've used many of these) to freebies, contests, recipes, and grocery game coupons. The thing is I didn't want to try them for Thanksgiving since it was a new recipe. I rarely want to try something new for a holiday that I have to make everything for. I always try it out before, just in case. One bad recipe will make you do that!

Anyways, this recipe is pretty close to my stuffing recipe, but I did make alterations such as more and different spices and less onion (thank goodness I cut down on that! There was too much already). This recipe is good, it does come out as stuffing muffins, however, here is my complaint. I like my stuffing pretty moist. I seemed to have forgotten what muffins taste like and how the outsides cook to be a bit drier. Now mine weren't really dry, but I didn't like the outside of the muffin. However, I'm betting that if I, or you, tweak and play with this recipe there is a way to get them to perfection. The base recipe is good, I'm thinking I needed to spray more non-stick spray in my muffin cups, and add a bit more stock. However, with that being said, they are delicious and wonderful with a bit of gravy on top :)

Stuffins

Before baked

3 stalks of celery, chopped thin

1/2-1 medium onion, chopped (depends on how much you like onion)

1 T. butter

1 loaf of bread (I used cheap white, but use whatever you like)

3 medium eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 c. of milk

3 T. parsley

2 T. sage

1 1/2 T. thyme

3 c. chicken stock (I used about a cup on mine)

salt & pepper

Saute the celery and onion in the butter over medium heat until they turn translucent and caramelize. It pays to take your time with this step, because this is what really makes for a flavorful stuffing.

Meanwhile, toast each piece of bread in the full loaf. 

Chop the toasted bread into cubes (I just ripped it into small pieces-much faster).

Add the celery and onion mixture and dried parsley, sage and thyme.

Salt and pepper the mixture well. Lightly beat the eggs and milk together, and pour over the top.

Pour some of the chicken stock over the top, and start to mix everything together.

Keep adding stock until everything is moistened (wet but no soupy). 

You may not need to use all of the stock.

Give you muffin pans a through coating of non-stick spray, and fill each cup up with stuffing.

Bake at 350* F for about 30-45 minutes (check them and make sure the outsides don't burn).

If you prefer a stuffing that's a little more moist, cover with aluminum foil. 

Yields about 18 stuffins.

*You can also pour a little stock over each muffin after you put the stuffing into the muffin tin for softer stuffins.

Christmas is upon us...which means baking time!!

The cookie recipe I'm about to post is a long standing tradition in my family, on my mother's side. They are called anise drops. The way the cookies are supposed to bake is like a little mountain top, if you look at the picture below, you'll see they have little tops on them, which we call peaks. Every year my grandmother, aunts, mother, and now me try to get the peaks on these cookies. Its nearly impossible, and yet my Great-Grandmother would get them every year, and only once did my Aunt Nancy get them. And then everything changed...I got them the first Christmas we lived here! I had never gotten them before, didn't even know what peaks looked like, but I got them! And to make sure I made another batch a couple days later and got them again!  So now I've gotten the peaks for 3 years in a row! I just pulled a batch out, and gazed at rows of perfectly popped peaks! :)

So why is a peak so important? Well in my family its what you look for when you put a tray of Christmas cookies out, its the one cookie you asked about, its the one cookie I call and wake up my mom at 8:30 in the morning and say "I got the peaks!" and laugh and gloat lol! (Sorry mom). My mom even came down last year and watched how I made them and what I did different, we got the peaks, she went home and tried it and got flat ones. I've come to the conclusion that perhaps the way I make them, combined with the different altitude and dryness of the air might determine whether you get them or not. It also is bragging rights, and a sign of what a good baker you are. I have proven myself now as a good baker at the age of 26! Oh yeah! lol! But I welcome all of you to try and join up in our Christmas tradition and goal of getting the peaks.

I personally didn't like them very much for years, but my husband LOVES them. Luckily the recipe only makes 2 dozen, just enough for him to munch nightly. However once, I started to get the peaks the cookie has a different flavor..and no that's not just my imagination! They are really dense and the anise flavor is lighter. If they are flat, they are more crunchy, to me atleast. Now I love them.

Anise also tastes like black licorice, if you like that flavor you'll like these, if you don't and your partner does, or you know someone who does like it, then you can still make these, because like I said its only 2 dozen. I personally have to make them 2-3 times a month (in December) for my family.

Anise Drops

3 room temperature eggs- beat until light and lemon color, about 5 minutes with the whisk attachment on medium speed (6 on the kitchen aid)

Slowly add 1 cup of sugar, and I do mean slowly, while you keep the medium speed.

Beat that for about 5-7 minutes, or until light in color

Then add 1 t. of anise flavoring

2 cups of flour

1/2 t. baking powder, mixing for a minute or two between each addition.

Continue to beat completed mixture for 2-5 minutes.

Put on greased cookie sheets (I use a cookie scoop); let sit out overnight on the counter.

Bake at 350*F for 12-15 minutes.

Tasty Treat Friday!!!!

Christmas is coming, as I if I needed to tell you, since I'm sure you've seen Christmas items down every isle, and heard the Christmas carols played in almost every store. I decided to start some of my Christmas cookie and candy recipes that are new to me. I haven't made very many candy items before, maybe fudge and caramels, peanut butter balls, but that's not much compared to all the candies out there. So I wanted to try them out before I'm making them for my cookie trays next month. I glanced around my pantry baking shelf and found I had all the ingredients for Mixed Nut Brittle. I've never made peanut brittle, but this recipe seemed so simple that I wanted to give it a try. 

Verdict? SOOOO GOOD!! It was so easy and tastes so good, I wonder why I've never tried to make brittle before! The hardest part is cleaning the bowl and forks that I used to make the brittle, because as soon as the sugar mixture begins to cool, its hardens. So be prepared to soak your dishes a bit.

Mixed Nut Brittle

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup of salted mixed nuts

1 T. butter

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. baking soda

Grease a small baking sheet (I used a square 8"x8"); set aside. 

In a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup, combine sugar and corn syrup.

Microwave mixture, uncovered, on high for 5 minutes; stirring twice.

Stir in nuts and butter. 

Microwave mixture, uncovered on high for 1-2 minutes more, or just until mixture turns golden 

(mixture will continue to cook and become more golden when removed from the microwave)

Stir in the vanilla and baking soda.

Immediately pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet.

Use two forks to lift and pull candy into a thin sheet as it cool (this helps make the brittle crisp)

Cool completely. Break up into pieces.

The mixture will bubble and foam a bit when you add the butter and then again when you add the baking soda. This is completely normal! The only problem with this recipe: Doesn't make enough!! Especially when you are going to give some of it away!