Edamame Pesto Spread or Dip

Ingredients:

3 cups Edamame, shelled & blanched

1/4 cup olive oil

Basil(1/2 bunch, or 1/4 cup Gourmet Garden Basil Blend)

1/4 cup raw almonds

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

salt & pepper to taste

Sriracha sauce, a few drops

3 cloves Garlic, minced

juice of one lemon

Blend all of the above ingredients together in food processor, add water if needed, continue to scrape down sides until you get a pretty smooth consistency or leave chunky if you prefer.  

Slice Ciabatta bread into toast size pieces.  Spray with butter flavor non-stick spray and broil just until crisp.  Spread toasts with dip.

Also a tasty alternative to Mayonnaise on sandwiches.

My kids LOVE this.

White Chocolate Lemon Filled Cream Puffs

Puffs:

1 cup water

1 cup butter(2 sticks)

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Electric mixer

Preheat oven to 400’.  In a medium size saucepan bring water and butter to a boil.  Add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until it forms a large ball, about 1 minute.  If you have a Kitchenaid, transfer mixture to bowl and using whisk attachment beat on high.  If using a hand mixer, you can use the pan, turn off heat and whip fast.  Add one egg at a time until mixture is well mixed and all eggs are incorporated.  Use a small cookie scoop and drop level scoopfuls 1 1/2” apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment or silpat.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove to cookie sheets right away.  (They’re full of air and almost cool to the touch as soon as you pull them out, but be careful still).  This recipe yields about 48 good size cream puffs.  If you use an even smaller cookie scoop(I played around with extra batter using a tsp. size, and they puffed up to the perfect bite size.

Filling:

1 8oz. block light cream cheese

1 tub whipped topping(not fat free)

1 box vanilla instant pudding mix

1 ½ cups milk

½ cup water

¼ cup sugar

Juice & zest of one lemon, separated

1 egg

2 Tbl. Cold Butter

1 pkg. white chocolate chips.

In a large mixer bowl, allow cream cheese to come to room temperature.  When soft, beat on high using a whisk attachment.  Add pudding mix and milk and whip on high until smooth and creamy.  Set aside. 

In a small bowl, beat egg with lemon zest and set aside.  In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a low boil, until sugar is dissolved.  Slowly add hot water to egg mixture, whisking, and then add the mixture back into the pan and return to heat.  Keep stirring with whisk until thickened to custard like consistency.  Remove from heat and add cold butter and lemon juice.  Mix well.  Add in bag of white chocolate chips and whisk.  Let set for a minute and come back and stir again.  The heat from the mixture will melt the chips and it will be just about room temperature by the time they’re done melting and mixed.  Pour lemon mixture into cream cheese & pudding mixture and blend well.  Fold in Whipped Topping, you can just use the whisk attachment on low spead. 

Fill a decorators bag with a large star tip attached with mixture.  This will have to be done in batches, so don’t overfill or it will make a BIG mess.  Poke tip into side of puff and fill, you’ll feel the weight of the puff change.  Overfilling is not an issue, but may be slightly yugly(my word for yummy/ugly, it’s all good though).  Spread a little of the cream filling on the bottom of the plate you’ll be serving them on, this acts like a glue so the cute little guys don’t roll off!  Layer, and sprinkle with powdered sugar, layer again, more powdered sugar.  I use a tiny fine sieve strainer or shaker.  Randomly place fresh raspberries around the platter.

Raspberry Dipping Sauce

Okay, this is the EASIEST and BEST dipping sauce ever, use it over brownies, ice cream, cheesecake, etc….  A friend told me about this.  Literally, 1 minute!

In a large mixing bowl, pour in one bag of FROZEN raspberries and 1 jar of strawberry preserves and mix.  Set in fridge, covered, and allow the mixture to thaw and set up just right.  Give it a good stir before serving.  Something about the juices from the berries with the pectin from the jam.  Yum.  I made mine last time using strawberry freezer jam, and my oh my!

Love This! Frazil Ice at Yosemite...

I just want to hold out a cone and pour some flavorings on.  I know, sick, it's loaded with all kinds of fun gastric love, but it LOOKS cool.

Chili (I served this at Girls Camp Fundraiser)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans black beans(do not drain)

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 can tomato soup

 2 Heaping Tbl. each Chili Powder & Cumin
2 Tbl. Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce

 1 Medium Onion, Diced

1 Jalapeno Pepper, finely diced, most of the seeds removed

1 Anaheim Pepper, finely diced, most of the seeds removed

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1 Tbl. Beef "Better Than Bouillion"

1 3 lb. lean Beef Roast, cooked and shredded

1 lb. chorizo, cooked and drained

Sriracha Sauce to Taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a large slowcooker, combine all ingredients EXCEPT meat.   Add enough water to the cans of beans to rinse all of the grainy fibery goodness out, about half to two thirds up the can.  Swirl around to loosen up all the residue and add "bean juice" to the crockpot.  Stir all the ingredients.  Cook on High 1 hour and turn down to Low for 5-6 hours, until onions are translucent and soft.  In a large non-stick pan, cook chorizo.  Pour into a fine sieve strainer and drain.  Go back and scrape the "bits" left in the pan, you can add a little water to help.  Pour the "bits" and drained chorizo into the chili mixture.  Add shredded beef and stir well.  Cook for one more hour.  The beef will soak up a lot of the liquid and it will thicken up.  Add Sriracha Sauce to taste if you'd like to add more heat.

**I slow-cooked the roast the day before in the crock-pot.  I use London Broil in the crock-pot A LOT, and this would also work well, any cheap cut will do, even pork.

Serve with Honey Corn Bread or Muffins.

Updated, my favorite version(10/10/15)

INGREDIENTS:

3  cans red kidney beans(do not drain)

2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

 1 Heaping Tbl. each Pasilla Chili Powder, California Chili Powder, & Cumin
1 Tbl. Worchestire Sauce

 1 Medium Onion, Diced

1 Tbl. Minced Dried Onion

1 Jalapeno Pepper, finely diced, most of the seeds removed

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1 Tbl. Beef "Better Than Bouillion" 

1 tsp. ManSmith's Dry Fire Seasoning 

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Combine above ingredients in crockpot and cook on high one hour, then turn down to low and cook another 5-6 hours.

Add the ingredients below and more water if needed and cook on low for another hour.

2 cups cooked and shredded Beef Roast

2 cups cooked ground beef(drain the oil)

1 cup finely diced cooked bacon

1 Tbl. Cocoa Powder(good quality)

S'mores Cupcakes

Here is the recipe I used:  http://annies-eats.com/2009/11/16/smores-cupcakes/

I did do a little tweaking, as usual.

Doubled the Graham Cracker Crust Recipe

Use half a square of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar with Caramel Filling Instead of Chocolate on Graham Cracker Crust

Used Lowfat Buttermilk instead of Whole Milk

Did Not Torch Frosting

For the graham cracker crust: (Doubled this)
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped(See Substitution Above)

For the cake:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk ( I used lowfat buttermilk instead)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork.  Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. (Note: I found the bottom of my squeeze bottle to be the perfect size to do this job neatly and quickly.) Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and maintain the oven temperature.

To make the cake batter, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed just to combine.  In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (batter will be thin).
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full.  Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. (Note: I just set my clean, dry mixer bowl over simmering water, to avoid dirtying two bowls.) Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer.  Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form.  Mix in the vanilla until combined.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.  Brown with a kitchen torch and garnish with chocolate and graham cracker segments (optional).

Source: adapted from Lovin’ From the Oven, originally attributed to Trophy Cupcakes, cake clearly from Hershey’s

Crockpot Turkey Breast Dinner & Mashed Potatoes

This was SO easy. I purchased a seasoned turkey breast, ribs removed but leg attached. Looked like half a turkey.

Spray crockpot with non-stick spray(don't use a liner, because you'll mash the potatoes in the crockpot). Layer one large finely chopped onion, and 2 lbs. cleaned baby red potatoes, and 3 cloves crushed garlic. Season with black and white pepper(to taste) and stir in one can of fat free cream of chicken soup. Top with 4 sprigs of rosemary. Top with turkey breast. Cook on Low 7-9 hours. You can also do this with boneless skinless chicken breasts, turkey loins, etc....

My turkey came with a pop up "done" insert, so after it popped, I let it still continue to cook for a while longer, it just comes out fork tender. Remove the turkey breast and allow to "set" for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Pour out most of the juices and remove sprigs of rosemary. Use a non-stick masher to make smashed potatoes, adding in liquid as needed. Serve with steamed veggies or salad. EASIEST turkey dinner ever! You can also use the reserved liquid to make a gravy, but I didn't even feel the need, it was SO flavorful and moist. But great stock for another meal. :)

Central Coast Part 3

This is Montana de Oro's Buchon Trail. We hiked in 1.5 miles in to Disney Point and back. Gorgeous day!

Central Coast Part 2

Grossed out? It's pretty disgusting, I admit it. This is Bubble Gum Alley. If you click on the link you'll see there is controversy in how it actually got started. Even my mom says their San Luis Obispo High School class was the one to start it.

Took the kids, they contributed and then I passed out the hand sanitizer after we walked QUICKLY through the alley. The alley starts off a parking lot on the corner of Broad Street and Marsh Street and goes through to Higuera.

Central Coast Trip Part 1

Growing up on the Central Coast(San Luis Obispo, pronounced san-as in apple, loo-iss oh-biss-poh), there were always things we were embarrassed to admit. When people we would meet from out of town would say, "Oh, yeah, that's where Madonna Inn is!" Oy, if one more person knew us for the pink hotel and the rock bathroom we thought we'd hurl. You never admitted as a child you were part of this. But, now that I'm older, and more, uh hem, SEASONED, I miss it and send everyone there! We came back to visit after moving to the Sierras 3 years ago to visit with friends and family that we miss so much. I was getting off the 101 and before I knew it we were driving into the Madonna Inn parking lot. We realized our kids had never experienced it! As ALWAYS, Madonna Inn is impeccably clean and neat, well maintained, the landscaping is always top notch. I have a set of pink signature Madonna Inn goblets passed down from my grandparents, and we saw the tables dressed with linens and the same goblets when we walked in. Those are my daughter's favorite cups to sip from. I keep them low so we use them often. The entry was decorated for the Easter season of course. Madonna Inn has always had over the top character and charm, and I'm glad we finally took them to our little local treasure that we've taken advantage of.


The tulips in the garden in front of the cafe and entrance.


The rock urinal in the men's bathroom. Don't worry, they were just pretending. Lots of potty jokes after this stop.


There's an electric eye that turns on the waterfall from the rocks above. It's the cleanest smelling mens bathroom! Not that I've been in many, but you know, you just walk by some and peeee-yooooo.


K-Bug in the entry.


Beautiful Day

Next Stop: Gumball Alley

Product Alert: The Ojai Cook, Lemonaise Light

I grew up with and have always stuck with Best Foods Mayonnaise. It's the ONLY mayonnaise for me. I've tried countless lights and fat free mayonnaise and they all taste terrible to me. Bleck. I'd rather not eat it. What's one more attempt? Well, this was it! I found this at a locally owned grocery store that tends to carry a lot of off-brands as well as all the name brands. They also carry local produce. They carry two version, the regular Lemonaise, and then the light version. Since it had all sorts of spices in it that I could see I thought I'd give it a try. And I'm in love! It doesn't taste like a mayonnaise trying to be a light version, it has a really great creamy, unsweetened flavor with a bit of savory. The best part is the ingredients and calories. The ingredients say it all though. Made with canola oil, eggs, Creole mustard, water, corn starch, lemon, salt, cane juice, vinegar, xantham gum, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and paprika. The Lemonaise Light has just 40 calories, 4gm fat(.5 is saturated though), and also only 1g Carb! So it's fantastic for low carbors as well. Best Foods has 90 calories per serving, 10g fat(1.5 saturated), and 0 carbs.

Click HERE or on the picture for a link to ordering it online.

No Knead Peasant Bread (12-24 hours)

This is another variation of the No-Knead Italian Ciabatta Bread, but same concept. Throw it together the night before, bake it the next day. There's no need to knead. Easy peezy. This came from this YouTube video, and "so easy a 6 year old can do it".

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. active yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt(I use sea salt in all my cooking)
2 cups warm water

In a LARGE bowl(I use my humongous Tupperware one, everyone seems to have one) mix the dry ingredients together, just use your fingers or a spatula. Pour in warm water and mix well. It will be VERY sticky and look too moist, then too dry, then too moist again. Don't worry about this! Cover with loose lid, saran wrap, or foil and set into a draft free area. This needs to set overnight, so if you prepare it the night before at say 9:00pm, you can bake it after 9:00am, all they way up until 3:00pm. 12-18 hours.

The next morning, heat your oven to 500', very hot. If you can, use a large dutch oven or non-stick oven proof casserole with a good fitting lid. Preheat the pot you're going to use. Dump the dough out onto a greased and floured counter. You'll want to grease up and flour your hands as well, it is very sticky. Stretch it out length wise and fold into thirds. Stretch opposite into a longer piece again, and fold again in thirds. Pull hot pot out of oven and drizzle just a little olive oil along bottom, you can also sprinkle with a little cornmeal. Plop, yes, PLOP, the loaf folded side down into the hot pot and sprinkle a little more flour or cornmeal on top. Put lid on and bake in the 500' oven for 30 minutes. Remove lid for another 10-15 minutes. The steam from baking with the lid on makes the loaf bubble and rise, and then removing the lid will brown it and let the top crackle. Beautiful!

No-Knead Italian Ciabatta Bread, same as Peasant (takes 12-24 hours)

Edited to Add: Windows 7 may not have been my idea, but I am still waiting for someone to come up with Smell-inet. This stuff is seriously making my house smell like an old fashioned bakery and I can't stop. Last night I made up 3 batches. #1=just plain, which is mannah in itself. #2=added 1/2 cup Grated Romano Cheese and about a Tbl. of dry Italian Seasonings. #3=swapped out a half cup flour for dark rye flour, 1 Tbl. each dry shallots, poppy seeds and caraway seeds. Oh, slather me with buttah and toss me a slice. Okay, not really, that would be really gross. But chili dipping oil would burn the skin. ;)

Another yummy version:  Add 1 Tbl. Dried Rosemary, 2 Tbl. Dried Minced Onion, and 1 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese(pictured above and below)

This is HEAVENLY. And I played around with a few variations, so easy!

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. active yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt(I use sea salt in all my cooking)
2 cups warm water

In a LARGE bowl(I use my humongous Tupperware one, everyone seems to have one) mix the dry ingredients together, just use your fingers or a spatula. Pour in warm water and mix well. It will be VERY sticky and look too moist, then too dry, then too moist again. Don't worry about this! Cover with loose lid, saran wrap, or foil and set into a draft free area. This needs to set overnight, so if you prepare it the night before at say 9:00pm, you can bake it after 9:00am, all they way up until 3:00pm. 12-18 hours. On a large cookie sheet, cover with non-stick foil and sprinkle a little flour. This just makes it SO easy! Use a spatula to dump the gooey dough onto the cookie sheet. I spray my hands with non-stick spray and then with flour to keep from getting too sticky. Shape and stretch with your hands to get a long flat loaf. Sprinkle with additional flour and cover with a clean DRY towel. Set aside for 2 hours. Heat oven to 425'. Remove towel and bake for 30-35 minutes. When you tap it it should sound hollow. Let cool about 10 minutes(if you can), and serve with butter, flavored oil, or:

When cool, cut down the center lengthwise, and then into 8-10 pieces across. Slice through middle of each piece but not all the way through. Leave the crust intact. Fill with your favorite sandwich fillings(mayo, turkey, swiss, cranberry, avocado, and alfalfa spouts are my fave). This is perfect panini bread!



Also, play with flour portions! I used 3 1/2 cups all-purpose, 1/2 cup dark rye. Yummy! I didn't care as much for the whole wheat, but I'm going to try white whole wheat to healthify it a little.

It's very rustic looking, artisan.

Whopper Cookies

1 stick butter flavored Crisco shortening stick (Or ½ cup shortening, ½ cup Nucoa marg.)
1 C packed brown sugar
½ C sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
2 ½ C all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Malted Milk Powder
1 1/2 cups malt balls, smashed

Preheat oven to 350’. In a 1 qt. ziploc bag, crush malt balls with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer mallet. Mix first 5 ingredients together. Add baking soda, flour, and malted milk powder all at once and mix again. After ingredients are well mixed add crushed malt balls and mix on slow until equally dispersed. Using a small cookie scoop place about 2 in. apart on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake 8-12 minutes, just until light golden edges.

If you want to SUPER-YUMMY-IZE it, Mix 1 tub of milk chocolate frosting with 1/2 cup malted milk. Frost cookies and dip tops in additional crushed malt balls.

Another Room Done....

Finally got to another room. I purchased these vinyl decals from Willow Creek Signs a few years ago for this bathroom. But my walls are really textured, and I have a Cricut and tested the walls out first. If I couldn't get my vinyl to stick I was afraid to mess up and use the good ones. I was walking by an art store though and saw these canvases and got an idea. So, I used the vinyls basically as a stencil instead. It worked! Who came up with texturing walls anyways?! Oh, probably the people that came up with popcorn ceilings.

I wanted a color that was bright and cheery, I think I accomplished that. This is Pampas by Kilz.





Sproost says I'm:

Your specific style combines three more general styles:
60% Cottage Chic
20% Modern Elegance
20% Hollywood Couture



Cottage Chic
Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you! You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?

Materials
You have a great sense of humor when it comes to design and even like to make fun of the style itself. Which means that you will throw in a toy boat or a vintage life preserver to keep the mood of the place just like the color: light! The fabrics are natural (cottons and linens) and are light in touch. Much of the furniture is wood or wood framed (the lighter the better, think driftwood!) and as long as it's used sparingly or with modern lines, you even throw in a wicker piece here and there.

Colors
Your true inspiration (whether you know it or not) is the sea... the colors found at your favorite beach: white and light beige of the sand, a variety of blues for the ocean and sky, and greens and pale grays of the sea glass... but the key is white! Your space should feel light and airy and give off the mood one has when at the beach: laid back! The key with Cottage Chic is balance; in one corner there could be a rustic wood table that looks like it could have been found rather than made, but it is offset with a modern vase while another corner is adorned with a modern Lucite piece.

Space Planning
The furniture is comfortable and the layout is cozy. The more it encourages intimate gatherings the better! Just watch out for the red wine spills on the new white sofa! The color throughout is light and airy - and though you love to accessorize with fun colors (the sky's the limit with a white background), the main color seen and felt throughout the house is white or very light versions of colors so that they feel almost white.