Adult Snow Cone

What do you get when you mix me, the margarita loving beach girl, with too much snow?  A Snowy Margarita!  Okay, that was just ridiculous, but I got your attention, right?  This lovely idea was actually from the brilliant mind of MrBeans.  Like I’m going to say no to the idea of pouring margarita mix over snow.  It’s an adult snow cone! 

Tomato Cobbler

Wondering what to do with all those garden tomatoes crowding up your countertop?  Well, me too…

An experiment for the oven, tonight I made “Tomato Cobbler” from Mark Bitman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.    And you and I both thought cobbler was for fruit and berries, right?  Never afraid to veer from the black and white print, I added some fresh basil from my garden to spice up the tomatoes and cheese from my grocer’s refrigerator to, well, cheese up the topping.

Dinner turned out quite tasty!  Tomatoes are now acceptable with the word “cobbler” in my house; (though, prefixes like “apple,” “peach,”and “blueberry” may still be preferred.)  This dish reminded me a lot of tomato pie, a pizza without cheese found in the Philly area.

I spent the rest of the evening updating some of the photos in my shop, and now it’s past time for bed!  Happy September!

Campfire Cookies

You’re looking at some award winning cookies!  These delicious little bites of cookie, chocolate and marshmallow took the prize for “Most Creative Cookie” at yesterday’s 2nd Annual Cookie Contest at work!  My prize: two movie passes!

I’m very proud of my cookies and their accomplishment, and of course I’ll eat up an chance I get dubbed as “creative.”  Literally, in this case!  Don’t forget to check out the recipe and make some campy cookies for yourself!

The Secret Recipe for My Favorite Drink

 

It has taken many years, and many bars, restaurants, grocery stores, kitchens and refrigerators to allow my taste buds to make this most educated, highly specified and exceedingly important decision.   Officially, to be noted in blog eternity, my favorite drink is the deliciously lime, never with salt and always on the rocks  Margarita. 

My favorite, and no longer very secret version has three ingredients:  ice,

2 parts Simply Limeade and 1 part Jose Cuervo Silver Tequila.

It makes an incredibly smooth and ultimately refreshing beverage.  The hardest part is not drinking one everyday!

Snowflakes and Cinnamon Buns

 

We're getting the storm of the century here in Pennsylvania with 20"+ of snow!  My backyard is a winter wonderland, and I can't wait to put on my snow boots, sit down in one of those chairs and have some hot chocolate with Frosty!  

Speaking on Frosty, I started out the morning frosting these Cinnamon Buns!  I picked this recipe from Food Network's Alton Brown because you make them at night then store them in the frig until morning.   Perfect for waking up to on a sleepy, snowy Saturday.  Unfortunately, I have to confess, I think I added too much flour, and they didn't rise the way they should have.  They turned out very dense.  This is my second cinnamon bun failure.  I'll give myself one more chance before I resort to Pillsbury's Grands!

For now, we're staying warm by the pellet stove while the snow swirls outside, right Zorro?

Warmed up like biscuits! Cheddar Biscuits!

Third time's a charm, because I finally got perfectly round biscuits!  Just look at it!  Don't you want to reach into your screen and take that yummy, cheddary, flaky goodness?  That's right, they were flaky!  I'm so proud.

When attempting this recipe before, I would have to revert to drop biscuits when left with a sticky, blobby, yet still delicious biscuit batter.  This time, instead of pulling out the mixer, I learned how to correctly combine everything together with my hands.  I made scones recently that specified cutting in the butter with two knives, and I realized I needed to try that with this biscuit recipe!  Certainly a labor of love cutting in butter, I alternated between knives and my fingers, and it did the trick.  They happily cut into perfectly round biscuits.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

2        cups all purpose flour
1        tablespoon of sugar
2 1/2  teaspoons of baking powder
1/2     teaspoon of baking soda
1/2     teaspoon of salt
6        tablespoons of chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups of cheddar cheese
1       cup cold buttermilk (I use the instant powder)
1       egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of milk (glaze)

1. Preheat over to 400°.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add butter and cut in, using a couple knives, a dough cutter, or even your fingers until a fine meal forms.  Add cheese and mix until combined.

2.  Add buttermilk (or water if you added powdered buttermilk in with dry ingredients) and gently mix together to bind dough.  Turn onto a well floured surface and knead about 10 turns until combined.

3. Pat out dough to 3/4" thickness, and using a biscuit cutter or glass, cut out biscuits.  Gather scraps, gently knead together and repeat to make additional biscuits.

4. Transfer biscuits to parchment lined or Silpat lined cookie sheet.  Brush biscuits with egg glaze and bake until golden brown and firm to touch, about 18 minutes.  Serve warm!

I think I'm becoming a better baker!  But practice makes perfect...and more biscuits to eat!  Here's a couple of things this baker has added to her Christmas wish list for the next time I make this recipe:

a Pastry Blender

and a Pastry Brush.

PB&J Cookies

Start your week off right by spoiling your friends, family and yourself with peanut butter and jelly cookies!  And make sure you've got enough ingredients to make two batches; the first probably won't make it to tomorrow!

PB&J Cookies
yield: 46 cookies

3/4      cup natural smooth peanut butter, mixed well
4         ounces of unsalted butter, softened
1/3+    cup of granulated sugar
1/3      cup of packed light brown sugar
1         large egg
1         teaspoon of vanilla extract
1         cup of all-purpose flour
1/2      teaspoon of baking powder
1/2      teaspoon of baking soda
1/2      teaspoon of salt
           seedless raspberry jam

1.  In a mixer, combine peanut butter and butter until smooth.  Preheat oven to 350°.
2.  Add sugars.  Mix until uniform and fuffy, then fold in egg and vanilla.  Mixer on low, add flour, powder, soda and salt until well combined.
3.  Rolling with your hands, form even balls of dough into 1" diameters.  Coat each ball with granulated sugar, then place on a cookie sheet (I always line mine with parchment first) with about a 2" spacing.  (These cookies don't spread very far.)
4.  Bake cookies for 10 minutes until they've puffed up.  Remove from oven.  Using a 1/4" teaspoon, press a small well in the middle of each cookie.  Spoon a rounded 1/4" teaspoon of jam into each cookie, then return to the oven.  Bake for an additional 6 minutes or until golden in color.
5.  Transfer to wire racks and try your best to wait to sample a cookie once they've cooled.