Happy Halloween! Almost...

Halloween falls on a Monday. Boo. So we celebrated all weekend by watching Halloween movies and for breakfast today I made Pumpkin Waffles.


Seriously, maybe the best waffles I have ever had. They're a little sweet once you get the whipped cream and syrup on top but that's why you make ham and eggs to balance out with some saltiness right?


I don't know what I'd do without my ipad! Its the best cookbook.


Everything's all mixed up, egg whites folded in and the waffle iron is hot!


If you're interested in making them here's the recipe with my additions in (parentheses).

Best Ever Pumpkin Waffles

INGREDIENTS
makes 4 round “Belgian” style pumpkin waffles or 8 small square waffles

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk ( I subbed in Vanilla no sugar added almond milk)
• 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

(• 1 vanilla bean scraped in (add to the milk/egg/pumpkin mixture).........)

• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm

*Grated and lightly packed into the spoon, use 1/2 tsp. Grated and loosely scooped, this is about 1 tsp. of nutmeg. If you have to use pre-grated, dried nutmeg, use 1/4 tsp.

DIRECTIONS

1. Lightly oil the waffle iron with vegetable oil, and set it to the desired temperature.

2. Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Whisk together to break apart the cornstarch. Add the remaining dry ingredients, and whisk to blend.

3. Separate eggs: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

4. Add pumpkin and milk to the egg yolks. Whisk to blend and set aside.

5. Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Set aside.

6. Pour melted butter into the yolk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, whisk to combine.

7. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix them together until just combined. A little lumpiness is fine. That will smooth out when the egg whites are added.

8. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white bits are obvious.

9. Once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter! I continued to cook them until they were a nice golden brown color and a little crispy. They are much more moist and do take a little bit longer.

Yum.

Vanilla, Pear and Fig Jam

I had one last batch of fresh figs to use so I made another batch of jam. I walked around the grocery store with a bunch of different types of fruit but nothing caught my eye until I saw the crimson red pears and knew they were meant to be together.



My recipe was basically the same as the one for my rhubarb and fig jam except I had only 13 cups of fruit rather than the 16 cups I had before. I just followed the directions loosely again from pomona pectin and when the jam was almost done I added to big gluggs of vanilla to the pot and stirred. I tasted a couple of times to see what level of vanilla I wanted. Not to perfumey but enough to add another layer to the flavor.

My favorite way to eat this is over some vanilla bean ice cream. Yum.

Rhubarb and Fig Jam

The saga of the never ending figs continues......I had another big batch to use and rather than make a cake that would disappear in a day I made jam that would disappear in a day! I realized how much I love to cook as I stirred the moltenous pot (see injury picture below)of fig and rhubarb until it was just a goey sticky lava. I then stretched my design skills and made pretty kraft paper labels to go on top of the jars.


I made 2 big jars of jam - one for us and one for my boss who has been supplying me with the figs.


There was something so satisfying as stacking up all my labeled jars and looking at them.


But it wasn't all glitz and glam. A blob of jam lept out of the pot and landed on my skin leaving me with a nasty jam burn that coincidentally looks like an exclamation mark!

My recipe was based off this website and I used this pectin (which is sold at my whole foods). I have another batch of figs and trying to decide what to do with those!

Fig and Thyme Cake Recipe

Last week, I was given a ton of figs and I've been eating them on my yogurt but we just couldn't eat them fast enough so I started looking up recipes for figs and I found a bunch of delicious ones but they were time consuming - whip egg whites, separate this, blah blah, and I'm making this at 8 p.m. after working a 10 hour day. I wasn't into complicated and I remembered my favorite cake recipe for a pear cardamom cake. I interchange the pears for figs and the cardamom for thyme. It is fantastic.

figs sitting in the brown sugar and butter mixture

Fig and Thyme Upside-Down Cake
Serves 8

1 1/2 cups flour (i used cake flour which required 3 more tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 - 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme (this is to taste - I added almost 2 based off how the flour and thyme smelled together. I didn't want it to be overpowering but I wanted it to be noticeable)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, divided
3/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
10 small figs sliced into discs (I covered my entire cake with discs of figs so depending on the size you might need more or less)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
black pepper (optional)

Whipping Cream (optional)
pint of heavy whipping cream
sugar -to taste

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-by-1 1/2-inch round cake pan.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together. Stir in the thyme and set aside.

3. Melt one-fourth cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar has melted and combined with the butter. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan, spreading it to reach the sides.

4. Cut the figs, cut into discs and discard the stems. Arrange the figs in a circle around the cake pan, starting at the center and working outwards. Sprinkle with a dash of pepper (optional). Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

5. Beat the remaining one-half cup butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, beating after each addition just until combined.

6. Gently spoon the cake batter on top of the figs, smoothing out to the edge of the pan and making sure the cake batter fills in around the pears.

7. Bake until the top is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Place the cake on a rack to cool for 5 minutes in the pan.

8. Run a small spatula or knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a cake plate, leaving the pan on the cake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature

9. Make whip cream, pour pint of heavy whipping cream into bowl and add sugar to taste (usually 1-2 tablespoons) and whip with either hand mixer or stand mixer until cream becomes thick and fluffy.

10. Serve, wait for everyone's mouth's to drool while you're plating up this sugary, figgy cake and service with a big dollop of homemade whipped cream.

The only slightly sad warning is this cake doesn't last if you don't eat it past the second day. It might have lasted longer in the fridge but its so moist that it will turn before you can eat it all!

Food Porn - Pan Fried Duck

I love cooking and for me it is like a mental yoga. When the day has been bad or things aren't going the way I planned I can go to the kitchen and cook. Very rarely do things turn out bad. Somethings not as planned but not bad. Recently, Leslie, had posted about an asparagus salad that they had created the recipe via video. This led me to start reading Kinfolk Journal. Which is like the playboy of food journals. It's an amazing website and magazine that documents amazing food and the people that make it. I instantly knew that I need to make this recipe.

I took one measly little photo on my iphone. I was really too hungry to try and photograph it well and to be honest the video is amazing. Why try to recreate it!

Summer Corn Salad Recipe

A few weeks ago when I was in San Francisco, we stopped at an awesome pizza place in my girlfriends neighborhood; Delfina Pizza. To be honest, the pizza is good but their side entrees really stole the spotlight this past trip for me. We ordered sand dabs ( mini fish deep fried) and a summer corn salad. I've been thinking about making the corn salad ever since which I finally did this past weekend twice.

Summer Corn Salad
serves 2
1 large ear of corn - shave off the corn with either a knife or a cool corn tool
1-2 small kumato tomatoes (mine were fairly small maybe 2 inches across) - chopped
2 large handfuls of arugula - washed (or several websites call for basil
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon onion - finely chopped

-Shave the corn off the cob and place in a small mixing bowl.
-Finely chop the onion and add to the corn.
-Cut the tomatoes into smallish pieces (or if using cherry tomatoes I would halve or quarter if possible) and add to the corn/onion mixture
-Toss the corn/onion/tomatoes with a bit of good olive oil (I probably used 2 teaspoons)
-Season the corn/onion/tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste
-In the final step, make sure to mix the corn, tomato, and onion mixture well to blend the olive oil into the salad
Place the arugula on the plates and spoon the corn mixture over
*Another option would be to mix the arugula into the corn mixture if that is what you prefer I would add the arugula by sight. Using probably only 1 large handful vs the 2 handfuls.

There are tons of summer corn salad recipes online but a lot of them call for boiling the corn to remove the starch. I didn't and I loved the summery sweet taste of the raw corn. This recipe was sort of made up of what I liked from other people's recipes so feel free to modify! Let me know if you try something new and yummy!

Raspberry Summer Cake

I was reading someone's blog this weekend who linked to Smitten Kitchen's blog about how to make pancakes. Something I'm determined to master at some point in my life. Mine always turn out overcooked or raw in the middle. Ugh, after mentally memorizing how to make perfect pancakes I decided to catch up on some of her other postings. I came across Strawberry Summer Cake. It sounded easy and we might have gone a little crazy with the juicing and bought way to much. Maybe. I needed to use some raspberries up about 12 pints to be exact.

Raspberry Summer Cake

Adapted, unintentionally, from Smitten Kitchen

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour (I used cake flour and measured out 188 grams otherwise per cup you add 2 extra tablespoons, I believe)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup (200 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup (118 ml) milk
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 pound (450 grams) raspberries (SK originally calls for strawberries, I only had raspberry on hand)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch cake pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

(This is where I messed up big time - I know only like 2 steps in. I wasn't paying attention and I mixed the sugar into the flour, baking powder and salt mixture. I continued to cream the butter by itself and add the egg/milk in and then gradually add in the flour. Not sure what the cake would taste like otherwise but mine is still delicious!)

In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared cake pan. Arrange berries, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges.

It was the perfect dessert with our grilled buffalo chicken tenders and margherita pizza made on the grill. This cake is summer.

Roasted Pepper Macaroni

Ever since I started working again I have felt really adverse to cooking. I always think about making wonderful yummy recipes but when it comes down to it I'm too tired and lack much extra time. This weekend, we spent all day home on Saturday and I got a cooking bug. We had the cinnamon apple cornmeal waffles from here for breakfast and for a late lunch we had roasted pepper macaroni and seafood sausages. Man oh man do I love macaroni and cheese but its really unhealthy for you! I wish I could take credit for this recipe but a friend made it for me and I've been hooked ever since! I don't have a specific recipe but I follow a loose guidelines of this:

Roasted Pepper Macaroni

• 2 peppers ( yellow, red, orange) cut into slices
  
• 3-4 cloves of big garlic cut in half or quarters
• Olive Oil
• Walnuts/Pecans (1/4-1/2 cup)
  
• Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)
  
• 2-3 cups of Farfalle / Rotini

On a baking sheet covered in foil place the peppers and garlic cloves and drizzle with olive oil.
Peppers waiting to be roasted!
Roast at 350 for 10-20 minutes. This part is tricky as I'm not a fan of the roasted aka burnt peppers so I roast mine until they are soft and light brown but you can go the whole way and dark roast them. Take out of the oven and let cool a bit, otherwise I seem to have problems with my chopper not sealing but if you don't go ahead and go to the next step. I reserve the oil from the baking and put into my chopper in the next step but you can throw it away but why!? its Roasted pepper and garlic olive oil yum.

Place the peppers and garlic in a blender, chopper, etc... with a handful of nuts (from whichever you have chosen), drizzle a bit more olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Blended pepper concotion
Blend until smooth ( usually a few minutes) and voila you have roasted pepper sauce. While the peppers are roasting I will start the pasta and they usually end up being done at the same time. I combine the sauce with the pasta. I had enough for 2-3 cups of pasta and than I saved about 1 cup of sauce for pizza/dipping.


L-R and starting at noon - roasted pepper mac, steamed snap peas with salt, pan fried seafood sausages from Trader Joes ( shrimp, crab, red peppers, cilantro yumminess!!)

Also, don't forget to get your names and addresses if you're interested in doing the ornament swap! Deets here

Snuggly Sunday Nights

via weheartit.com

The air has gotten cooler and crisper here in Southern California. I'm hoping its for keeps but one can never be sure! It is only the end of September and occasionally we have scorching hot falls. Today, we slow cooked a big old chunk of beef with potatos, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, onion, celery and garlic. Poured on a black currant and cabaret marinade and thoroughly enjoyed it tonight. I enjoyed it so much I forgot to take a picture before I ate it. Oops.

I hope everyone is enjoying a snuggly sunday like we are!

Cheers-

Raechel

Homemade Peanut Butter

This might be old news to you but it was new to me when I received my food processor for Christmas. I had visions of me making these elaborate pie crusts and processed food things but no, my food processor gets its mileage on shredding blocks of cheese and making peanut butter for me. Yes, I needed a $300 machine for those two uses apparently.

Oh well! My biggest fear is when I ask for some giant cooking contraption is that I won't use it. At least I use it even if the task is minimal.

Homemade Peanut Butter

1 bag of peanuts ( I like Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Peanuts - 1lb -$1.99)
Food Processor
Small Tupperware/sealing type of container

Place peanuts in food processor and turn on. Process until the peanuts are smooth and free of chunks ( If you like smooth pb, otherwise, I'd reserve maybe 1/4c-1/2c of the chunky mixture and add that to the smoothed pb by hand)

With a spatula, move the peanut butter from processor into your mouth..erm I mean tupperware container and place in dark, cool place ( food pantry). I've had mine in there for a couple of months and it doesn't mold/smell/etc...If you're feeling wierd about it place it in the fridge.

That's all it takes to make homemade peanut butter. It takes me about 5 minutes and it's free of wierd chemicals and a bit cheaper than the fresh ground peanut butter you buy at Whole Foods. I think that stuff is $5.99-7.99 a pound. Yowza!


Let me know if you have any other favorite uses for your food processor. I think once I get a hearty crop of my basil plant I'm going to make some homemade pesto sauce. Nom.
Cheers-

Raech

Happy Belated Easter!

We had a wonderful busy weekend! Family is in town and so with both of us working during the week we did some entertaining this weekend. I had about 6 people over for Easter and did the majority of the cooking, which I love doing. Its so much fun! I think I'm going to start a new tradition and make this cake every Easter. We had it last Easter and its super simple to make but tastes amazing.


Pear Cardamom Cake from "The Wednesday Chef Blog". If you click on the title it has the link to her blog with the recipe. Something I did notice is that her topping was much more crunchy and carmelized then mine. Mine was more soaked into the cake this time..Hmm..I wonder what I did differently?


Jack also made a homemade focaccia bread that was to die for. He used the Martha Stewart Recipe

Focaccia Bread and then we added really thinly sliced tomatoes, fresh rosemary, oregano, salt, freshly ground pepper, freshly grated reggianno and thinly sliced olives. We also let it sit overnight in the fridge for a slow rise which tends to give breads more character than if you just leave it out for a few hours and cook it. I highly recommend doing this to breads if you have the time and patience! Here was our results. It was amazing!



I hope you had a lovely weekend! I'm off to work in this rainy weather ( which I am so excited/happy for!)

Cheers-

Raechel

The Great Cookie Debacle of 2010

Last night I had a vision, I was at whole foods and I wanted to make something simple for dessert and suddenly it hit me. Dark chocolate chip cookies with chopped dried cherries. It'd be the chocolate and cherry version of oatmeal raisin cookies. I knew this was going to be amazing. I would win an award for the best new novel cookie creation. OK, maybe that isn't going to happen but I was happy with my ingenuity.

Now someone else that I live with doesn't like soft doughy cookies. He likes them crisp and chewy. So here is where my problems started. Trying to please others. It just doesn't work. Just kidding. I was happy to find a recipe that would work for both of us. I don't care what texture my cookies hold as long as they taste excellent. So I did a quick google search for thin, crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies. I found this recipe from Sunset, a legit source or so I thought. I mean come on Sunset you're one of my favorite travel/food magazines out there but you did me wrong.

This is what I wanted.



This is what I got.


Also, as a side note, this is one of the best looking cookies from the batch. I have more cookie crumble gooey messes than what you see above.

So here is my problem. What did I do wrong? There were 8 reviews. 1 was bad and 7 were excellent to good. So...what did myself and this other reviewer do wrong? The cookies taste fantastic in case you were wondering. I highly recommend the dark chocolate/dried cherry combo.

I've been researching the reasons why my cookies failed. Apparently making candy isn't the only temperamental kitchen art. So are cookies. Too much flour, not enough water, shortening vs. butter, longer cooking time, higher temperature. The amount of variations from recipe to recipe can drive a person bonkers who just wants a reliable source. I should have gone with the Nestle's toll house recipe but instead I try to get fancy. Serves me right.

To end this in a postive light. I purchased a new jacket/shirt that I can't seem to take off.



I love it. I bought it at GAP when Leslie was here visiting. I scoffed at the price $79.50. I put it on hold promising myself that if I couldn't stop thinking about it I'd go back and buy it. Guess what after a couple of hours of shopping I passed up Louis Vuittons, Tiffanys and the sort to go back to GAP and get my new friend. Since the picture absolutely sucks that I took here is another example of it.



So far I've worn it with jeans and cute ballet flats, black t-shirt and black yoga pants with flip flops and the outfit you are seeing jeans, black tank top, and tall boots. LOVE IT. go buy one. I imagine jacket and I will be friends for many many years. I can imagine the safaris I'll take in it, visiting the Eiffel tower, and drinking beer in Belgium all while wearing my favorite jacket. P.S. it looks super cute with a black scarf. I'm completely smitten with this jacket if you can't already tell.

Ok, crazy over now.

raech

Fresh Salmon Mango Tacos with Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup
makes 6 side dishes

2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 tsps chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
14 oz veggie broth
1 c water
Shredded Cheese for sprinkling
Evoo for sauteeing
S&P

1.) Heat Evoo in 3qt sauce pan, add onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 mins. Next stir in chili powder, cumin and red pepper with a splash of broth and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in beans and the rest of the liquids. Heat mixture to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until beans are tender.

2. ) Pour mixture into a blender or a food processor and blend until smoooth. If the soup has lost some of its heat you can put back into saucepan and cook until warm again.

3.) Sprinkle with cilantro, s&p if you desire and a bit of shredded cheese and serve.

Salmon Mango Tacos
serves 2

1 small salmon filled ( mine was about 4 to 6 oz), cubed
1 mango, cut in 1/2. ( 1/2 diced and 1/2 cut into thin slices)
1 small onion
1/4 red bell pepper
Cumin to taste
1 green onion, chopped
Evoo
S&P
Smokey Tabasco Sauce
2 Tortillas
Shredded Cheese for Sprinkling
1/8 c Salsa Verde
1/2 c. cherry tomatos, quartered
Cilantro - generous handful chopped ( 1/4-1/2c)


First - Prepare Mango Salsa
1.) Combine the following - 1/2 of the mango ( diced), 1/8th cup onion (chopped), cherry tomatoes ( quartered), green onion ( chopped) , cilantro ( chopped) and the salsa Verde.

Second - Prepare Salmon and Veggies/Fruit
1.) In a sautee pan, heat evoo and add the cubed salmon, mango slices, red bell pepper ( sliced lengthwise) , and the onion ( in long slivers) and sprinkle with a bit of cumin and sautee until the salmon is heated and the vegetables are slightly soft but still a bit crisp.

2.) Heat the tortillas. Then, sprinkle with a bit of cheese and fresh chopped cilantro and fill with salmon and veggies and top with mango salsa. I also like to add a bit of Smokey Tabasco on the top and enjoy.




This was something I just threw together with the ingredients I had at home and it ended up being amazingly delish!

Cheers-

Raech

Homemade Pizza Adventure #1

So as previously discussed on my blog here. I love pizza a lot. I've been on the quest to find a super thin crust pizza. Back in my hometown they are famous for cracker thin crispy pizza crusts ( think Domino's thin crust but with flavor). I've been reading blogs and searching on the web for crispy pizza crust recipes. I finally found one and I am really happy with the results. The pizza I made last night wasn't as thin and I wanted but that could be my lack of ability to read directions or that I can't spin pizza on my hands like the pros do but it was crispy, sweet, salty, and delish.



This is what our finished product looked like. Since I couldn't throw it to make it thin. I took out a giant glass bowl dusted it with flour and placed my dough over it and stretched it out to as thin as possible.

The Recipe and the blog I read to find the recipe. Kathleen's been inspiring me to try cooking outside my comfort zone. Her homemade ravioli's look ahhhmazing! I've been reading her blog for a long time and finally got in touch with her to find out about the pizza. Pretty nice little information highway this blogging thing creates!

Another few tips! I did buy a misto and a pizza peel. I did already have a pizza stone and I cooked my pizza at 550 ( the hottest my oven would go!) Now I feel super professional when I make my pizzas! Just a word of caution. This recipe needs at least 1 day to ferment so you gotta plan ahead but one batch makes 6 individual servings ( the pizza in the pic is of one crust so enough for 2 people if you have a nice little salad/veggie dish with it).

let me know if you have any tips/ideas for me on pizza

cheers-

raech

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our craft valentine swap - deet here

Sweet Crunchy Curry Bread

I've been on a bread baking kick. So this weekend Jack and I made another batch of bread. This time splitting 1 recipe into 4 mini loaves. We made 2 sweet Curry Breads and 2 White Breads with crunchy oat toppings. They're so good and easy! So the recipe for white is the same except use a little less sugar and omit the curry/cardamom/spices. In the pic below is the sweet curry bread on top and the white oat bread on the bottom.



Sweet Curry Bread
3/4c. warm water (check temp per yeast directions)
1 package yeast (we use instant/rapid rise)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shortening
1/2 c milk
3 cups flour (approx)
1/2c yellow curry powder (approx)
1 tbsp cardamom (or 4 pods freshly ground -recommended)

Crunchy Sweet Topping
1/4c. rolled oats
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp raw sugar ( preferred raw/turbinado)
Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

Combine water and yeast in mixer bowl. Using a bread hook, combine salt, butter, milk, curry,cardamom and sugar into yeast/water mix. Add the first 2 cups of flour. Mix well and start to add remaining flour until dough chases itself around bowl in almost a single lump ( this step you might have to add more than the last cup of flour ).

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead with hands until the dough is soft and doesn't stick to hands.

Butter/oil a bowl and return kneaded/non sticky dough into the bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour.

Remove bread from bowl and place back onto floured surface and punch 1x to remove air and then knead a few times. Sprinkle with flour so the dough isn't sticky.

Grease a loaf pan well with butter and place your dough inside. Sprinkle the sweet crunchy topping on top of the dough at this point and press into the top of the dough lightly. Cover dough again and let rise for another 30 mins in loaf pan.

Bake 30-40 mins at 375. Your bread will be done when the inside temp reads 190 or when you tap on the end of the loaf and it sounds like a hollow tree.

Yesterday for lunch we decided to make sandwiches and ended up with tuna salad and since the loaves were so mini I decided to do open face sandwiches with little tiny cherry tomato slices. It was quite delish. Also, just tried Trader Joe's tomato basil hummus and its awesomely delish.



Cheers-

Raech

P.S. I'm thinking I need a new blog name. I'm not really ever blogging about makeup...Any thoughts?

Best Investments of 2009

Ok. I know that January is almost over and I'm still talking about 2009 but today as I was washing stuff to be put in the dishwasher I glanced at my rice maker that was dirty from dinner last night. I thought in my head " oh rice maker you've made my life so different". Then I realized that I should really blog about my favorite investments of 2009.

First up, is my little 3 cup rice cooker. Before this I was making rubbery/crunchy/failed rice. I could never figure out what I was doing wrong. You boil water, add rice/oil, cook until done. What could go wrong? I think its the steaming that you get with a rice cooker that turns out perfectly steamed yummy rice everytime.



I picked up this one at CVS for $15. It literally has saved me from throwing away tons of batches of ruined rice. I :heart: you rice maker ( and so does the doggies..b'c now they get yummy brown rice added to their kibbies)

Next is my espresso machine. I know you're probably like "enough already! we are soo sick of hearing about your espresso machine!" but truth be told every morning when I walk in the kitchen I am so happy to see my little machine ready to use.



This bad boy I picked up for around $100 with tax and a 20% off coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond. The stupid part was I had to buy a milk frothing pitcher and a little stamper to push the grounds down. Why not just include those and sell the coffee maker for $110?

I'm looking for some tools that I can add to my kitchen for 2010. So far we bought an electric knife.


Its awesome for slicing homemade bread into normal slices instead of having big old hunks of bread ( which are good but makes the bread go away sooo fast!!) .

One of our big Christmas presents was a kitchen aid food processor.

Which I adore. This weekend I made 2 large batches of homemade soup base ( A potato soup and a broccoli soup) and was able to get 8 pints ( i think..they're about 2 cups worth of soup each). The basic recipe I use involved boiling the veggies and then processing it until its smooth and adding about 1-2c of chunked boiled veggies. At this part I can can them and when we are ready to eat them take them out and thin them with a little bit of milk and cheese. I was really frustrated after going to the grocery store and looking for some canned soups to have on hand and they were $2.50 and up for 2 people. I knew I could make something with way less sodium and tastes better! My other project this weekend was buying a few blocks of cheese and shredding them in the processor. Now I have shredded mozzarella, colby cheese, and cheddar.

Anything else that I should add to my kitchen repertoire?

Cheers-

Raech

Its amazing

how much money you can save when you concentrate on doing it. A big goal of mine is to pay down a lot of debt this year. I'll admit when I had a job I used my credit card more than I should with the intention that I can always pay it off next month when I decide I'm ready to stop living a luxurious lifestyle. FYI. This never happened until I was laid off..EEK. Now what? Well, we've figured out how much we need to spend each month on necessities and bills and what we have left. Being laid off did a lot of positive things for me.

1.) I started to save more $$ ( go figure.)
2.) I ate out less
3.) I shopped less
4.) I bought coffee shop drinks less ( The latte's I make at home cost us $.50 a piece vs. $3.95 Starbucks price tag)
5.) I started to cook at home more

A few unexpected expenses came up this month and luckily we've been frugal for the past few months and managed to continue to stick to our plan, even go out to dinner a few times/dates and still have some money left over until our next pay period.

So in my frugality I've been cooking at home more. Which I should do. I'm a great cook and this way I can control what goes into my food. We had 2 slices of leftover potpie so that became the main component for our lunch. Since its a veggie pot pie I felt like it needed some protein. I decided to experiment and make homeade quickcook baked beans. So the recipe is below. You might want to adjust it to your personal taste.

Raech's BBQ Beans in a Jiffy
Serves 2-4

• 1 can of beans ( I used white kidney beans), drained
• 1-2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• A few nice squirts of BBQ Sauce ( p.s. I think baby ray's is the best)
• 2 Slices of Vegetarian Bacon
• A few nice squirts of Ketchup
• A little bit of vinegar depending on what type of bbq sauce you have

Mix all ingredients together in a little saucepan (so that the beans are sitting in enough sauce you might have to play with the amount of bbq/ketchup you add). I added the veggie bacon frozen and let it cook in with the sauce. I would probably recommend cooking the bacon separately so it gets that crispy flavor and add it to the sauce/bean mixture. Cook until the sauce/beans are hot and serve.

via we heart it
For me it was about convenience. I had all of these ingredients at home and I didn't need to make a trip to the store. I'm pretty sure that this was a lot cheaper than what I pay for at the store. I think a small can of bush's baked beans is around $1.99-2.50. I think I paid $.79 for the can of white kidney beans and the rest of the ingredients are things I already have. If you wanted to get fancy you could chop up onion and add that. In the past, I would have said "oh eff it. Lets just go somewhere for lunch"( and end up spending $30.00.) Don't get me wrong. I still love trying new restaurants in my area but its amazing how creative you can be when you're forced to use what you have. This ends up saving you more too because you're not throwing out spoiled food which I am hella guilty of doing.

Cheers and Happy Weekending!

Raech

P.S. In case you're new to my blog

1.) Add me if you enjoy reading my blog - I love seeing who's reading and reading yours in turn!
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Its Raining Cats and Dogs..

I enjoy being a modified vegetarian most of the time but there are a few comfort foods that I absolutely miss as a vegetarian. One of those recipes is pot pie/stew. I think homeade chicken or beef pot pie rocks. Today with this being the 3rd or 4th day of rain I really was craving something hearty for lunch. After a quick google search I found what appears to be a pretty darn good pot pie recipe. This recipe is awesome but I modified it to what I had on hand. Sooo my version is below:

Raechel's Modified Pot Pie Goodness

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or as much as you need so the veggies don't stick when sauteeing
  
• 1/2-3/4 onion
  
• 5-6 crimini mushrooms ( if they are bigger than a .50 piece)
  
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 small rutabega chopped
• 1/2 c. frozen peas
  
• 2 cups vegetable broth or I used Not Chik'n vegetarian boullion to give it that chicken flavor
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 pie crust ( either homeade or store bought)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Cook all hard vegetables ( carrots, rutabega, potato, garlic) in oil for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in frozen peas and Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are barely tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Stir into vegetables, and cook until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
4. Pour the filling into glass dish ( I used a bit of spray oil so it wouldn't stick). Arrange over the filling, and seal and flute the edges. Poke a few holes for steam.
   
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the crust is brown and I put mine on a cookie sheet because it usually bubbles over.

This recipe is awesome. It was a bit liquidy when we ate it for lunch but the flavors were all there and sooo good. Now that its been out of the oven for an hour or so the sauce has thickened. So maybe it needs time to rest before cutting into it. If you're worried about the pot pie being runny you could make little individual pot pies in small bowls/ramekins.



Kind of a crappy pic of the pot pie and I'm not sure why my pillsbury crust split. I know that I cooked it a bit longer than normal but it seemed dry ( luckily lots of pot pie goodness to help keep the crust moist.

If anyone else has any suggestions for good comfort food on a rainy day I'd love to hear about it! My other favorite is macaroni and cheese. Speaking of...dinner is only a couple of hours away! I have a plan now

Cheers-

Raech

EEK!

I've been trying to maintain blogging everyday if not at least everyother day and already its almost Thursday and I just blogged on Monday! Bad bad bad!


I don't have much to say. Things are busy over here in LA. I am letting pie #2 cool. Pie #1 is a pumpkin pecan pie. One of us, ahem not me, doesn't really care for pumpkin pie. So I compromised by making a pecan pie with pumpkin filling. It smells rather heavenly and I think will be a good buffer to the overly sweet pecan pie filling ( which by the way I think is amazing). Pie #2 is just plain old pumpkin. I thought that I could get away with just baking a non traditional pie but after pie #1 was cooling I started having regrets! Plus, I already had pumpkin pie in a can, evaporated milk and another crust ready....So for 4 people we are having 2 pies. Seems even right?

Also, we're making a tofurky. Kind of scared about this. We weren't going to and then last minute we changed our minds. On the bright side if its absolutely disgusting we have plently of other yummy sides to fill up on!


ok my dears! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families! Hug everyone a little tighter tomorrow and be thankful that you have wonderful people in your life!

xoxoxo

Raechel

Happy Humpday!

Hi Boys and Girls-

Do you ever love a song so much that you listen to it over and over until you can't anymore and then a few months later you find out how much you love that song again! I do this all the time. Its time for some Ingrid Michaelson again!

I'm cleaning up the house today and I'm going to attempt to make a Rhurbarb Upside Down cake. I haven't tried to make one in eons and it didnt turn out very well the last time I tried it!


This is the song I can't stop listening to! I want Jack to make an animation for this song



happy humpdays darlings!