baking

so the last 4 days have been full of flour, sugar, mixing, and...starting over. a lot.

i must have used a whole bag of flour. had to!

 i made pizza dough this weekend, but forgot pictures. so i'll just give you the recipe.


From Food Network Magazine: (Italian issue)

you will need:

    1 1/3 cup warm (105 degrees) water
    1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry or instant yeast (I've tried both)
    1 TB sugar
    3 TB olive oil, plus more for brushing
    3 3/4 c flour, plus more for dusting
    1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Sprinkle sugar in bowl with the warm water, stir to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast packet on top, let rest 10 minutes, until foamy. Stir in olive oil.

Combine flour and salt, pour in yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon to make dough ball.

Dump ball onto a floured surface, and knead for a few minutes--until lumps are gone. Form 2 balls. Brush 2 large bowls with oil, add one ball of dough to each, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1-2 hours (until doubled in size). Roll out and bake at 500 with toppings, or wrap tightly in plastic and freeze in a ziplock. (this works extremely well! just take out to thaw in fridge before rolling out as usual)

brownie pudding

 saturday evening i was craving something chocolatey and delicious, so of course i whipped up Ina's brownie pudding. (she doesn't actually call it this in her book, but it's what i have dubbed it--maybe because i saw it online!)


I used hershey's special dark cocoa powder (for the first time ever) and let me tell you...i am never going back! it is incredible. but the 2 sticks of butter and heap of sugar probably help a little.


this pudding is served hot, but since i had leftovers, i tried it cold and i must report it is just as delicious this way--maybe even more so. I've never been a huge fan of hot desserts. especially things that are hot and topped with ice cream. i am a dessert purist; i don't like things mixing. i'd rather have a bowl of ice cream or brownie alone than a brownie hot fudge sundae. i don't get whats so great about it. but this dessert is the mecca of chocolatey baked goodness if that's your thing.

i posted this, and came back to fully explain this dessert. it is gooey and soft and batter like, but it also has a crispy, crunchy perfectly crisp thin crust in top that makes a truly glorious cracking sound when you first pierce it. you will eat about a quart of it. get out the sweatpants and go crazy people!

pound cake batter--yum!!

batter. i want to eat it like this

 next up, for a few birthdays at work, i whipped up a pound cake.

yum!

The recipe is from my beautiful fairy godmother, and I can tell you right now, if you are not lucky enough to have a fairy godmother, I feel sorry for you. she is the most magical and special person I will ever know. and has bestowed upon me the greatest pound cake recipe! :)

Grandma Taylor's Pound Cake



you will need:

    6 eggs at room temperature
    2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
    3 cups flour
    3 cups sugar
    1 cup sour cream ( i don't think it need to be room temp, but i take it out with the other ingredients)
    1/4 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla (i usually use about this much, just taste to check)
    *1 1/2 tsp extract of choice (I love almond, but you could use lemon, etc)

*note: this is a very large amount, so i would start at 1/2 tsp and taste, adding more if necessary. you don't want it to overwhelm you. especially if you are the only person alive who loves almond extract (ahem, like me) and you will not be the only one consuming this cake.


 Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 12 cup tube pan.

Beat sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy. Add eggs individually, mixing after each. Add flour, salt, soda mixture and sour cream alternately until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and other extract, tasting to be sure of flavors. Pour into tube pan, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. be sure to check doneness at about 1 hour, you don't want to over bake! Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn onto plate. Can be sliced and stored in airtight container for a few days. If it lasts that long.

mini sausage and cheddar quiches

sunday i decided to try my hand at mini crustless quiche. i have been seeing lots of these around the food sites and thought it was a great idea for me--easy to eat, individual, easy to reheat! and the convenience of not needing crusts was perfect. i just took my favorite quiche recipe from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (page 202 if you were wondering!) and subtracted the crust, and fiddled with the temperature/bake time. this part was not as successful as i would have hoped--they turned out fine, but not as brown and "done" as i would have liked (and as i have seen in others' photos). the normal recipe calls for a bake time of 50 minutes at 325, so i just shortened the time.

I think the real solution is the bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes. The higher heat will give you that browned edge i so adore. besides that they were great and so fun! and i ate a few for breakfast one morning--it was perfect! like a mini omelet. just microwave for 45 seconds to a minute.

you will need:

    1 pound Jimmy Dean Hot roll sausage (any really, but the Hot has great flavor and is not spicy)
    1 1/2 c (6 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
    1/2 c chopped onion
    1/4 c chopped bell pepper
    1/2 tsp dried basil
    1/8 tsp garlic powder
    4 large eggs
    1 cup milk
    dash paprika


Brown sausage, drain, cool. combine sausage, cheese, onion, pepper, basil, garlic powder and paprika in a bowl and mix. Crack 4 eggs in a bowl, whisk, add milk, whisk. With an ice cream scoop or spoon, spoon about 1 TB of sausage mixture into each cup of a greased muffin tin. (just make sure they aren't overflowing with filling) Pour a splash of egg mixture in each filled cup, being sure not to overflow. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, check and bake a few minutes more if needed.



there you have it. i am exhausted just retelling it all to you. happy baking.

sloth

this applies not only to my pathetic lack of motivation to share with everyone the gripping and thrilling daily noshes i consume, but also to my limited exercise. a few dinners piled up and then the daunting idea of doing so many recipes discouraged me--knocked my resolve out like a light breeze to a stack of cards.

so i've decided to just post the pictures i've still be steadily taking! and hopefully get it together enough to throw some recipes your way soon!

*note: i also made this yummy low carb lasagna that uses zucchini slices in place of noodles and I KNOW it sounds weird and you're thinking, "whatever kristina, you are full of garbage. there's no way that tastes good, much less like yummy lasagna." and to YOU i say, NAY. it was great! it was lasagna-y, cheesy (go heavy on the cheese layer, i did not have enough) and the portions are enormous and you still have room left for ice cream/oreos/whatever junk you bought after work that you knew you shouldn't but did anyway because hey nutty bars are awesome.  (i also forgot to photograph it which is why i mentioned it at all)

all these recipes were great, so try em. love em. and do yourself a favor and only make sausage balls when you go to a party--or else you will be standing alone in your kitchen at 9 pm watching Funny Girl and "putting them into containers for later" a.k.a. "eating every other one (or every one) you touch, leaving you with 3" and once they (or it) is stowed away safely, turn on P90x and get busy because you just ate yourself a pound of ground sausage and a block o cheese my friend!

my little basil plant!*

cheesy burritos! recipe from dashingdish.com

  recipe here

homemade pizza rolls--recipe from dashingdish.com

 

 

 

 

 

  recipe here

sausage balls. delish; for our will and kate party

sauteed green beans, carrots, red bell pepper

 i would like to note the above veggies are divine and really have no recipe. but i feel obligated to tell you how to make them.

blanch some green beans and sliced carrots for a few minutes, and plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking. heat olive oil and pressed garlic in a pan, add sliced bell pepper (red is the prettiest color and its sweetness goes nicely, rather than the green variety) and cook for a few minutes to soften. add gr beans and carrots, saute for a few minutes, sprinkle with THIS IS THE CRITICAL STEP tony chacheres and enjoy yourself the best damn veggies out there.

*white pizza (homemade dough!) note basil

 this pizza dough recipe is from food network magazine. it was wonderful, and surprisingly easier to deal with after being frozen, and thawed in the fridge. the perfect crispy thin crust!! note rules on baking from the margherita pizza post. oh and yes, since you were wondering, i did grow that basil leaf ALL BY MYSELF!

royal wedding work party invite

 oh yes, we had a royal wedding party full of only British foods the day of the nuptials!

royal wedding work party invite

royal wedding work party invite

royal wedding work party

 note flags with will and kate

royal wedding work party

there were many strange things here: marmite (yeast extract? ew, it's as awful as it sounds. i tried it), Branston pickle sandwiches (gross, google it. foulll), cucumber sandwiches, but i hate cucumber. DIDJA KNOW THAT ONE?! i do..

let's just say the sausage balls were a hit. and the scones, the maker of which also MADE HER OWN BUTTER. way to make us all look bad, i say. she is super sweet so it was hard to be angry,