It's Cold, So Lets Get Cooking!

It's Autumn now and all the kiddos are back in school.  The end of summer is always bittersweet.  I feel the crispness in the air and the leaves are beginning to change.  I can taste fresh apple cider and a slice of pumpkin pie. 

I've been making homemade granola bars (perfect for the colder weather).  My friend Nikki Dinki, an actress and chef in NYC, has this fab cooking show online.  She has inspired me to get cooking after work lately.  Yes, she made some granola bars as well as sushi, sloppy joes, marshmallow bars, quiches, and hummus.  Watch for Nikki Dinki!  I'm sure she'll be on the Food Network very soon. 

Check out Nikki Dinki cooking  www.facebook.com/pages/Nikki-Dinki-Cooking/155018194509269

Granola Bar Recipe:
Recipe from Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
• 1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
• 1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
• 6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
• 1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
• 1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Directions

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Stuffed French Toast

Have you ever had stuffed french toast?  I heard you can order it at IHOP. A coworker made some and it was absolutely delicious.  She made it in three varieties - bananas, ham and cheese, and cream cheese. I researched a few recipes and decided to try making it.  I had some blueberries in my freezer from fruit picking, so I made blueberry cream cheese stuffed french toast.  I added raspberries and powdered sugar for a finishing touch.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Stuffed Baked French Toast Recipe

Ingredients: 1 loaf white bread (no crusts) 1/2 loaf french bread 6 c. fresh/frozen blueberries (rinsed) 8 oz. cream cheese 1/2 c. sour cream 1/2 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 7 eggs 1 1/2 c. milk 1 1/2 c. half & half 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Directions: Cut white bread into cubes and place into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over bread.  Microwave cream cheese in bowl for 2 minutes. Stir carefully and add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Spread over blueberries.  Cut french bread into 10-1 inch thick slices, place over cream cheese. Beat eggs, milk, half & half, cinnamon and nutmeg and pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered, then uncover for approximately 15 minutes. Let set before slicing. Sift powdered sugar over before serving.

Honey Bee Chocolate Cake

Looking for a special sweet treat to make for your child or husband this year?  In the past I've made ice cream cakes, but this year I wanted to make something different.  I was reading through different cake recipes on foodnetwork.com and found the Honey Bee Chocolate Cake recipe by Nigella.  I knew the marzipan bee decorations would take awhile so I decided to buy box brownie mix, bake it up then coat it with the special honey chocolate frosting and marzipan bee decorations.

The cake was a big hit and it was absolutely delicious!  I made the bees by rolling out almond paste, dyeing it with yellow food coloring, making them into bee shaped ovals, then i painted stripes and eyes on them with chocolate frosting and added sliced almonds as wings.

Below is Nigella Lawson's recipe:

Ingredients

Cake:

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1 1/3 cups soft light brown sugar
• 2 sticks soft butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 1 cup boiling water

Sticky Honey Glaze:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Bees:

• 1 ounce yellow marzipan
• 12 flaked almonds
• Special equipment: 9-inch springform tin

Directions

Take whatever you need out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come to room temperature, and while that's happening, melt the chocolate from the cake part of the ingredients list in a good-sized bowl, either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and butter and line a 9-inch springform tin.


Beat together the sugar and soft butter until airy and creamy, and then add the honey.
Add 1 of the eggs, beating it in with a tablespoon of the flour, and then the other egg with another tablespoon of flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, and then the rest of the flour and baking soda. Add the cocoa pushed through a tea strainer to ensure you have no lumps, and last of all, beat in the boiling water. Mix everything well to make a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin. Cook for up to 1 1/2 hours, though check the cake after 45 minutes and if it is getting too dark, cover the top lightly with aluminium foil and keep checking every 15 minutes.Let the cake cool completely in the tin on a rack.

To make the glaze, bring the water and honey to a boil in a saucepan, then turn off the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate, swirling it around to melt in the hot liquid. Leave it for a few minutes, then whisk together. Add the sugar through a sieve and whisk again until smooth.

Choose your plate or stand, and cut out 4 strips of baking paper and form a square outline on the plate. This is so that when you sit the cake on and ice it, the icing will not run out all over the plate. Unclip the tin and set the thoroughly cooled cake on the prepared plate. Pour the glaze over the cold honey bee cake; it might dribble a bit down the edges, but don't worry too much about that. The glaze stays tacky for ages (this is what gives it its lovely melting gooiness) so ice in time for the glaze to harden a little, say at least an hour before you want to serve it. Keep the pan of glaze, (don't wash it up), as you will need it to make the stripes on the bees.

Divide the marzipan into 6 even pieces and shape them into fat, sausage-like bees' bodies, slightly tapered at the ends. Using a wooden skewer, paint stripes with the sticky honey glaze left in the pan from icing the cake. About 3 stripes look best, and then very carefully attach the flaked almonds at an angle to make the bees' wings, 2 on each one. They might snap as you dig them into the marzipan bodies, so have some spare. I'm afraid to admit, I also like to give them eyes by dipping the point of the skewer in the glaze and thence on the bees: they look more loveable with an expression, which is somehow what the eyes give them, but then this is where the Disney effect comes in. If a more imperial dignity is required, forgo the dotting of the eyes and present this as your Napoleonic Chocolate Cake.

Back in the Saddle Again

The holidays are over and it's back to the daily grind. I thought everyone would appreciate this fun caffeinated beverage. Happy 2010!

Eye-Opener Smoothie

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients
1 cup fat-free milk
1 chai tea bag
14 grams protein from vanilla isolated whey protein powder
1 teaspoon Splenda
1/8 teaspoon nutmet
4 ice cubes

Directions
Heat the milk in the microwave and pour over the tea bag; steep 5 to 8 minutes. Discard the tea bag. Cool the milk in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or even overnight. Pour the milk into a blender and add the protein powder, Splenda, nutmeg, and ice cubes. Blend 1 minute, until smooth.

St. Lucia Day

December 13 was St. Lucia Day. I first heard of this day when I was a child reading my American Girl Kirsten books. It's a Swedish custom, the first born daughter puts on a white gown, wears a wreath with candles on her head and wakes her family with a tray of sweets before dawn. This tradition came about because December is the darkest time of the year and it is thought that Lucifer will come and get you on this night. So people celebrate St. Lucia by throwing parties and people sing and dance all night long. Another essential part of this day is baking St. Lucia buns! These buns have been on my mind for years. I always wanted to make them, so finally this year my mother and I baked them! The buns were so adorable (I never thought I'd describe a baked good this way, but they were!). It felt like Kirsten's story was coming to life in my kitchen. They were quite delicious too. Since you might have missed celebrating St. Lucia day I recommend baking the buns for Christmas.

Grandma's Chocolate Ice Cream Soda

A favorite ice cream treat of mine is an old fashioned Chocolate Ice Cream Soda. My grandma would make me this special dessert for me when I was a kid. I remember observing how my grandma made the ice cream soda with special care. She made it with love. She would carefully drizzle chocolate syrup in the bottom of an old fashioned glass, scooped ice cream into the tall glass, pour carbonated water into glass until it reached the top. She added some whipped cream, more chocolate syrup, some crushed nuts and a cherry to top it off. I guarantee this treat will cool you off! Enjoy!

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Try 101 Cookbooks recipe: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/a-frozen-yogurt-recipe-to-rival-pinkberrys-recipe.html

mmmmmm