Mini-Cheesey Pepper Bites

Super-easy snack/appetizer. I had it for lunch today; the first time I made it to take to a friends house for game night.

Start with Mini Bell Peppers and Mozzarella String Cheese.

Or you can use cheese blocks or shredded cheese. String cheese requires less prep than the blocks, and shredded cheese can get messy; so I like string cheese best.

Wash the peppers. 

Cut off the tops.

Split them down the center.

Cut the cheese! (Sorry, I had to). Cheese slices should be about 1/2 inch. 

Stuff the cheese into the pepper halves, put on a baking sheet, and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Pop them into the oven, 20 minutes at 350º.

Ta-Dah! Let them cool slightly before serving, but remove from the pan while they are warm. Some of them may have tipped over, some cheese may have overflowed, that's fine. It's easier to get the cheese off the pan before it's cooled down too much. 

Serve and enjoy!

Easiest Pie Ever

I promise, this is the easiest pie recipe you will ever see.




Take 2 bags of mixed frozen fruits. Any two, pick your favorites. Two of the same, two different, whatever you want. If you're feeling brave but squeamish, pick two different blends that have two fruits in common. For example, I used a strawberry-pomegranate-cherry-blueberry blend and a mango-strawberry-blueberry blend. End result, lots of strawberries and blueberries with mango, cherries, and pomegranate. Add some odds and ends and a pie crust, and you're done!

Ingredients:
Any two bags of frozen fruit, with a total of  ~26 ounces.


Pre-made pastry crust
1/2 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup Splenda/Sugar baking blend)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp orange peel
2 tsp nutmeg
cornstarch

Toss the fruit into a saucepan on medium heat. Stir occasionally as it thaws, but otherwise hold your horses. Until the fruit is fully thawed, it does not play well with others.

Once the fruit is thawed, add 1/2 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup Splenda/sugar baking blend), 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp dried orange peel, 2 tsp nutmeg. Stir until everything is dissolved.

Gradually add cornstarch until the filling reaches your preferred consistency. I like mine to be just a bit more viscous than jelly, so I added a lot of cornstarch. Be careful though; you can always make it thicker, but you can't make it thinner.

Set the filling aside, allowing it to cool.

Take the pie crust from the box, and follow the directions for a double crust pie. The directions on the box may or may not tell you to pre-bake the bottom crust; always pre-bake it. 400º F, about 6-8 minutes.

Remove the pre-baked crust from the oven and pour the filling over it, being sure to spread the filling evenly. Put the second crust on top of the pie, pressing the two crusts together at the edge as best you can. Cut a couple slits in the top crust, and return to the oven at 400ºF  until the top crust is golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. 

Serve and enjoy!

Whoopie Pies

I was craving those Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Sandwich cookies the other day. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love the ratio of cookie to cream, I love the actual cookie part, but the cream is just a little too sweet, and I have to eat the whole box to really satisfy the craving.

So when I got this latest urge, I thought I would try making my own.

I used the Oatmeal Fruit-Nut Drop Cookie Recipe from my great-grandmother's cookbook (Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, Revised and Enlarged. 2nd Edition, 1956, this recipe p. 195)

1 cup soft shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
(the recipe calls for 1 cup raisins or dates and 1/2 cup nuts; I omitted these)

1. Mix the shortening, sugar and eggs together.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; then stir into shortening/sugar mixture.
3. Stir in oats (and raisins/dates and nuts if desired)
4. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2" apart on baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes at 400º. Cool completely.

Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
coconut cream (to taste)
powdered sugar (to taste)
cocoa powder (to taste)

Beat cream until peaks are stiff, adding flavorings to your taste as you go. Other flavor ideas include almond extract, cinnamon, and allspice.

Almond Joy-Inspired Cake: Version 1

A while back, a meme was going around the blogosphere: "Things I'm Afraid To Tell You." If that's not ringing any bells for you, this was a confessional meme bloggers posted and reposted, admitting that we're not perfect and that we only share the best of ourselves online and that that practice inflates expectations to the point that it is no longer real or attainable; these pressures and expectations were just as vexing to the bloggers themselves as they were to the readers. Read more about it here; read some examples here, here, and here.

At the time, I hadn't been blogging very long and I hadn't yet experienced many of the things others described; however, it still made an impact on me. Because of it, I made the decision that mine would be a warts-and-all blog. I'd share successful projects, as well as the ones that ended badly, and the ones that were somewhere in the middle.

This is a Somewhere In The Middle post.

Almond Joy-Inspired Cake. 

(And a messy kitchen counter with failed cookies in the background, they will be a future post)

This is a 4 egg white layered cake, with coconut cream and a chocolate ganache. I used a white cake recipe from "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book" (circa ~1966). My Great Grandma Schottler gave it to my mom as a wedding present, who in turn gave it to me as a wedding present. It has been well used, so I have to be careful with it. What I love about this cook book is the way it's set out: a key recipe is presented that is amazing by itself, then variations of that same recipe are presented on the same page and all of those directions refer to the key recipe. It makes it really easy to play around with a recipe--especially in baking where the chemistry is important--and still end up with a tasty product because you have samples already. You can see what has been changed or added in each variation, so you have a better idea of what absolutely has to stay, as well as how other flavors may be introduced. But I digress. 

The Cake: Silver White Cake (4-Egg White) (Key Recipe)
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cup sugar   (I substituted 3/4 cup Baking Splenda)*
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup soft shortening
2/3 cup milk plus 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp almond flavoring
4 egg whites (unbeaten)

Grease generously and flour   2 8 or 9: layer pans
1. Sift together into bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Add shortening, 2/3 cup milk and almond flavoring; beat 2 minutes.
3. Add remainder of milk and egg whites, 2 minutes.
4. Pour into cake pans; bake 30-35 minutes in 350º oven.
5. Let cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove cakes from pans and let rest on cooling racks until completely cool.

*Note: if you use baking Splenda, double the recipe. Otherwise the pans are too big and the cakes are pale, flat and shrunken. I learned this the hard way

Coconut Cream:
2 Tbs coconut cream
4 Tbs hot water
1 cup heaving whipping cream
Powdered Sugar (to taste)

1. Beat coconut cream and hot water until they come together.
2. Add heaving whipping cream and powdered sugar, beat on highest setting until it's fluffy. Add as much or as little powdered sugar as you like.

Chocolate Ganache:

1 bag dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs powdered sugar

Melt chocolate in double boiler. Remove from heat, stir in heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar. 

Assemble cake:
Additional ingredients:
Shredded coconut or coconut flakes
Sliced Almonds

1. Bottom layer of cake.
2. Spread Coconut Cream onto cake, top with shredded coconut/coconut flakes
3. Top layer of cake.
4. Pour on Chocolate Ganache.
5. Top with sliced almonds.

Next time, I'll do the chocolate differently. The cake was really good as is, but the dark chocolate ganache is a bit heavy compared to the cake and coconut cream.