Mexican Casserole

I haven’t posted to this blog in 5 years!  Years!  To be honest, I needed a break.  I felt like I had exhausted my cooking repertoire at the time.  I have made some changes since then.  The past 20 months I have been a member of WW (formerly Weight Watchers Canada).  I have lost 70 pounds (and counting).  I have relearned how to treat food and have a much healthier outlook on cooking.  I decided the best way to connect my WW life and my love of recipes was to pick up this blog again. We will see how it goes.
My first new offering is this Mexican Casserole.  I calculated it to be 5 points a serving.  I recommend calculating your own depending on how you tweak it for yourself.  It is delicious.  This casserole dish makes 6 generous servings.  Here’s what I did:

Cook 1 pound of extra lean ground turkey.
Add 1 diced onion, 2 diced red peppers, a can of rinsed black beans, a cup of frozen corn kernels.
Season (to your liking) with chili powder, cumin, ground coriander and garlic powder.
Cook through.
At the same time cook up your rice mix.  I used uncle Bens 7 Grain Medley, enough to make 2 cups when cooked through.  I added a little chicken bouillon (liquid) to the rice mix but you don’t have to.
Once everything is cooked, mix together.
Add 1 can of Enchilada Sauce.  Mix in.
Put everything into a 9x13 sprayed casserole dish.
Grate a couple ounces of mozzarella on top.
Bale for 20 minutes to half an hour at 350 degrees.
Enjoy!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

We have joked about the big jar of Nutella at Costco for almost a year now.  It's huge.  I mean, who really needs that much Nutella?  When we first saw it my Nutella loving then 6 year old went crazy!

You can see the "Please Mom!" look in his eyes.

But, we didn't buy it.  We really don't need that much Nutella.  So you can imagine my surprise when in February my husband came home with one of those big jars.

My 4 year old side by side with the giant Nutella

It was on sale.  He figured out that even if we didn't eat through the entire jar of it, the sale price was better than buying the smaller jar of it.

So my kids have been eating Nutella on toast, Nutella sandwiches, Nutella in their milkshakes...you get the idea.  And now, I'm baking with Nutella.

Here's a recipe for some absolutely delicious Nutella chocolate chip cookies.  They didn't last long in our house.

2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, melted
2/3 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c Nutella
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter, mixing well after each addition.

Add the Nutella and mix briefly, swirling the Nutella throughout the dough. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop the dough by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies have just started to turn brown.

Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Minecraft Cake

I love making creative cakes for my kids.  Minecraft is the 'Thing' right now, so I knew my 7 year old would really enjoy this cake as part of his birthday celebration.  I searched Pinterest for Minecraft cakes and saw ones similar to this posted.  I liked it because it was easy and effective. 

I made all the elements of the cake the night before the party. The base layer of the cake is blue Jell-O.  I made it according to their Jigglers recipe (mix packet with 2 1/2 Cups boiling hot water, place in pan - or in this case casserole baker - in fridge to set).
Separately, I made the Rice Krispie Squares and the Chocolate cake.  The day of the party I put everything together.  It came together quickly. 

1. Slide a knife through the Jell-O to cut into squares - everything about Minecraft is block-y.  The Jell-O is the water.

2. Cut the cake into same size squares - my cake cut into 16 good sized cake pieces. 

3. Frost each square of the cake with green frosting as you place it out.  I placed the cake pieces right on top of the Jell-O.  The cake is the land.  Some of the pieces of cake layers on top of each other to give it that building look of Minecraft.

4. Cut the Rice Krispie Squares into the same size as the Jell-O and Cake squares.  Lay those down as the sand of the beach.

5.  We added to the look of the cake with 2 Minecraft figures (Steve and a Creeper) and their accessories.  Some people who have done a similar cake did use foldable downloads to make their figures with.  The figures were part of our son's birthday present from us. 

Top view of the Minecraft cake ready to go to the party.

It may be simple, but my son and his friend loved it!  They thought it was so cool - and tasty too!

My son looking on as we sang Happy birthday to him.

Penguin Cupcakes!

My sweet daughter turned 4 in January.  We had a penguin party to celebrate!  Instead of cake we had cupcakes.  These little cupcakes were so cute and fairly easy to assemble.  I made a white cupcake and frosted the top with vanilla icing as the base.  For the penguins I used:

 ...Oreos, chocolate chips and Sunkist fruit snacks.  I opened the little packages of fruit snacks and took out all the orange ones.  My kids snacked on the rest.

 I carefully opened up the Oreos, putting aside the cookie only part for later.  The icing part became the face base.

I cut the fruit snacks into 3 pieces each.  One piece became the beak.  The eyes were chocolate chips.
I carefully broke the cookie piece of the oreo in 2, these became the wings.  The trickiest part was making sure the pieces stayed sticking up.  I used a knife to cut a slit to stick the pieces in, this worked.  The remaining cut fruit snack pieces became the feet.  I placed all the cupcakes on a foil lined tray and then sprinkled powdered sugar over everything to make it look like snow.  Very cute and the kids loved them!

Lots of Applesauce - or, what to do with all those apples you picked!

Every year our family looks forward to going apple picking in the fall. It's a lot of fun, but we do come home with a lot of apples.  They are absolutely delicious - nothing tastes quite a fresh as an apple right off the tree right?  Look at them, aren't they gorgeous?  I did make the usual array of apple pie and apple crisp.  BTW - apple crisp with ice cream makes a fantastic surprise treat for breakfast for the family.  But applesauce is the family favorite.  Even my son who really doesn't like fruit, loves this applesauce.

Mostly Cortlands all washed and ready

The apples all chopped up and ready in the cooking pot.

Bubbling and boiling away

 

Here's my large applesauce recipe:

Sweet Potato Casserole - Gluten Free!

This was a Thanksgiving gamble.  I wanted to add another veggie dish to our menus - following my Auntie's example of Thanksgivings past and I happened to have sweet potatoes on hand.  The recipe I found was not originally gluten free, I made my own adaptations to make it work for us.  If our guest's reaction was any indication, this was a success.  She had seconds and raved about it so much that I gave her the recipe.  She has since made it for a dinner party and looks forward to making it again.

• 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup coconut sugar  - (you could use brown sugar, I'm just on a coconut sugar kick right now)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter.
•  
• Topping
•  1/2 cup coconut sugar - or brown sugar
• 1/3 cup gluten free flour
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans - I didn't have any on hand, so I used slivered almonds in its place, it worked!

Preparation:

Combine first 6 ingredients. Pour into a buttered 1 1/2 to 2-quart casserole dish. Mix remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over top. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and browned.
Serves 6 to 8.

Delicious Gluten Free Stuffing!

When I was first considering eating gluten free last summer one of my biggest concerns was - what about Thanksgiving?  You see, I LOVE StoveTop Stuffing.  Like the kind of love that I would make a box of it and eat just that if I wanted to.  I just couldn't imagine a Thanksgiving meal without it.  But I put those feelings aside as it wasn't Thanksgiving yet and we discovered that my husband has a serious intolerance to gluten so we continued to pursue our gluten-free diet.  And it's been good. I can honestly say I don't miss bread most of the time and I am snacking a lot less than I used to.   And then October crept up on us and I realised I had my first gluten free Thanksgiving meal to prepare.  Most of the meal wasn't an issue, turkey and a pile of veggies (I follow my Auntie Sue's rule of thumb when it comes to serving veggies at a holiday meal - make sure there are lots!), my gravy I already figured out with corn starch instead of flour...it really was just the pies and the stuffing I wanted to make work.

Here's how the stuffing played out - it was absolutely delicious.  We had dinner guests who had never eaten a gluten free bread (to their knowledge before) - one of which only likes box stuffing, not homemade and they loved it!  I loved it too.  I made my bread from scratch, but I'm sure you could use a store made gluten free bread to make this work.

First - the Bread

I used Elana Amsterdam's Scrumptious Sandwich Bread recipe from her Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  I will admit when I first mixed this batter I had my doubts.  (My gluten free bread baking experience has been hit and miss).  But this recipe really worked and it was quite quick and easy for a bread.  Do yourself a favor and put this book on your cookbook want list.  It is a really great little Gluten Free cookbook.

Here's the bread recipe:

3/4 Cup creamy roasted almond butter at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/4 blanched almond flour
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground flax meal

Preheat the oven to 350* F.  Prepare a 7x3 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray.  In a large bowl, mix the almond butter until smooth (she suggests a handheld mixer, I used my Kitchenaid mixer).  Blend in the eggs.  In a medium bowl combine the almond flour, arrowroot powder, salt, baking soda and flax meal.  Blend the almond flour mixutre into the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes on the the bottom rack of the oven, until a knife inserted into the rack of the loaf comes out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pan for 1 hour, then serve.

Second - preparing the bread cubes

I let my bread cool while I was at church.  When I returned to it, I removed it from the pan and sliced it into bread cubes.  I put the cubes into a large bowl.  Meanwhile, I melted about a 1/4 cup of butter, adding a tsp of garlic powder into it.   I poured the melted garlic butter mixture over the bread cubes, coating all the cubes.  I spread the cubes onto two baking sheets and put them into an oven set to 225*F.  Let them bake to dry out (about an hour, but keep checking).  You could skip the make your own bread step and start here with store made gluten free bread.

Third - the Stuffing!

This stuffing recipe would be good with both regular bread and a gluten free bread.

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground sage
• 1 tsp dry thyme
• all of your bread cubes (or 10 cups of bread cubes)
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Melt butter in a large pan. Saute onions, salt, sage, and thyme for 5 minutes on medium heat, until onions are soft. Turn off heat. Add bread cubes and gently stir them into the onion mixture. Slowly pour chicken broth over the bread cubes folding everything carefully so the bread cubes do not break apart too much. In a small bowl, gently whisk the egg and add it to the stuffing mix. Continue to fold everything until the egg is incorporated. Scoop uncooked stuffing into a medium casserole dish and bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until nice and toasty on top.

*I would have added some celery if I had it - 2 or 3 stalks chopped up well, cooked in with the onion and herb mixture.

So there you go - proof that you can have a gluten-free Thanksgiving supper that with a delicious gluten-free stuffing.  Looking forward to my Christmas meal now :)

Going Gluten Free?

My husband gave up gluten about 2 months ago.  He has been battling reflux and some digestive issues for years and though I don't think he's full out celiac, I was curious if he had gluten sensitivity.  He rolled his eyes a bit but decided to give it a go.  Remarkably his reflux symptoms started to go away.  He heard about the book Wheat Belly and ordered it (and the accompanying cookbook).  He had doubts about reading the actual book after learning the gist of it in the cookbook introduction, but became hooked on the book.  Many of my quiet evening became interrupted by, "Kris, you gotta hear this..." I was curious and started to do a little wheat free research myself. 
We drove to Halifax a couple of weeks ago and I brought along the Wheat Belly book for myself.  Somewhere between my bagel at Salisbury at noon and pulling into the hotel parking lot at 3 I decided to go for it, like right then and there.  I find if I think about it too much and plan for a diet change I take too long to actually do it.  I didn't want to think about my last bagel or my last pasta.  Fortunately my introduction to gluten free eating was a fantastic one.  My husband found this fabulous restaurant in Dartmouth called The Wooden Monkey which specialized in whole foods type of eating.  It was delicious.  Two weeks later I haven't looked back.  I don't find it particularly difficult to eat without wheat.  The thing that surprises me most is that I'm simply not hungry.  I'm not always wanting to reach for a snack to tide me over until the next meal.  I'm still on the fence about if I'm going gluten free or just wheat free (there is a difference).  I'm also trying to not eat any gluten-free products that are full of processed fillers.  It is a very different way of looking at food.  Fortunately, there is a resurgence of popularity of eating "real" food.  More and more I want to cut out processed foods and sugars too.  I hope as this next phase of our cooking life enfolds that I can find some really great recipes to share with you.

Movie Popcorn Birthday Cake!

My son had a movie themed birthday for his 9th birthday party.  What better to accompany a movie party than a bowl of popcorn looking cake?  This turned out to be super easy and the kids just loved it.  This cake was 3 layers tall.  The bottom two layers I made in 9 inch round cake pans and the top layer was baked in a pie plate, a little shallower, but slightly wider to give it a bit of a bowl effect.

I frosted the layers with a little chocolate icing to stick them together.

Using a serrated knife to cut the rounded top off the layers.

Frosting the cake with vanilla frosting.  I did two layers of frosting.  The first layer gets a little crummy.  I let it set in the fridge before adding a second vanilla frosting layer.

Letting the first layer set in the fridge.

Meanwhile, my kids and I started to work on the popcorn top.  We took mini marshmallows and squished them together with our fingers in 3s to make it look like popcorn.

I mixed a little sugar with a few drops of yellow food coloring (mixing well) to make the "butter".

We then mixed the marshmallows and yellow sugar together.

The cake with its second layer of frosting on.

I unrolled Strawberry Fruit by the Foot and used my pizza cutter to cut the right size strips to make the striped bowl sides.

We then took Nibs and circled them around the top.  We placed the "popcorn" marshmallows all over the top of the cake until it looked full.  I sprinkled a bit more of the yellow sugar on top to give it that real buttery look.  Yes, you can see I used Betty Crocker's pre-made icing for my cake.  I often do as it just makes it easier. 
I then kept the cake in the fridge to keep it nice and firm until it was time for the party.  I usually make my cake a day ahead of time to give me plenty of time to set up for the party, not worrying about the cake too.

My son (in the middle) with a couple of friends at the party.  They thought the cake was pretty cool, and tasty too.

Fibre 1 Almond & Cluster Delight Cereal!

 I was very delighted to have the opportunity to try out Fibre 1 Almond & Cluster Delight Cereal from General Mills. It is one of 8 new products from General Mills this summer!

I have been a fan of Fibre 1 cereal for a few years now.  My husband first discovered it in as a tasty way to increase our fibre intake but not lose out on flavor.  This new cereal is in my opinion their best yet.  It has the yummy sweetness of granola, but without the high fat.  Knowing that I am getting 40% of my daily recommended intake of fibre at breakfast is a great bonus.  I would love to make this my new daily cereal.

I wasn't the only one to try out this new cereal.  My 3 year old daughter wanted some too and she loved it.  We ate it for a week solid in the mornings and I got a disappointed "Awww" from her the first morning that the box was empty and there wasn't any more to be had.

Fortunately, this box is not the end of it and you can try it out for free too.  The folks at General Mills are offering a  free one-day coupon, redeemable in stores on July 16th. You can get your own copy at the Life Made Delicious site on Facebook.

And that's not all...

You can get more coupons for more new General Mills products that will be redeemable on certain dates in July.  

The July 16th Coupon will be redeemable for either one box of Fibre 1 Almond & Cluster Cereal (which I highly recommend trying, I'm so looking forward to having more of this) OR one box of Honey Nut Cheerios Hearty Oat Crunch.

The July 23^rd coupon is redeemable for Nature Valley, Fibre 1 bars, Golden Grahams OR Cinnamon Toast Crunch treats! 

I've already got both dates marked on my calendar so I'm sure not to miss out.  

Like I mentioned earlier, I tried Fibre 1 Almond & Cluster Cereal out for one week.  I really feel as though it helped me kickstart off my summer goal of health and fitness.  This is a cereal that is good to eat and tasty at the same time.  I've tried many, many good for you cereals in the past that remind me of, well, eating cardboard.  Not this one, this one was truly tasty.  It was filling too.  I know that almonds are treat that helps to keep you full through to your next meal.  The week that I was eating this cereal, I didn't really want anything to eat at work at break.  I was still satisfied from breakfast.  
I can also imagine me packing a container of this to eat dry as a snack to munch on.  I think my kids will love it too.  I have to admit that I did keep it away from my boys and just let my little girl have a taste with me, so I could enjoy it a little longer.  But this is the kind of cereal and snack that they would love.  Nice to know that healthy doesn't mean tasteless :

“Disclosure – I am participating in the Fibre 1 Almond & Cluster Delight Cereal blogger campaign by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

Chocolate Pecan Cake

A work colleague of mine was finishing up her time with us :(  Instead of buying a cake, I offered to make one.  I knew she loved chocolate so I tried a new to me recipe of Chocolate Pecan cake.  It was tasty, but dense.  It didn't rise the way I would have like and left me wishing I'd made my wacky cake instead.  I think I'd like to go back and play with this recipe a bit as I really liked the idea and the flavour, it just came out a little bit more like a brownie than a cake that's all.  One fantastic part of the cake was that I got to use some of the beautiful Mexican Chocolate my brother sent me from his trip to Mexico.  Yum!

• 1 1/2 cups  unsalted butter

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 2 eggs

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees . In large saucepan, melt 11/2 sticks butter, chocolate, granulated sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa and 1 cup water over medium, whisking until smooth and warm. Let cool, 10 minutes. Grease bottom and sides of 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. salt into chocolate mixture. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and chopped pecans; whisk just until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan; bake until springy in center, about 45 minutes. 

 

I frosted this cake with some cream cheese icing.  After I wrote on it, I sprinkled a little bit of chopped pecans around the writing, just to pretty it up a bit.

 

 

Hot Cross Buns

What would Good Friday be without Hot Cross Buns?  For me, it's become a tradition.  It started a number of years back when I went on a Stations of the Cross walk across town with my church at the time.  I remember it being a drizzly Friday and a very moving experience, taking my turn to carry the cross as we paraded along, stopping to read scripture and pray along the way.  The last stop was at our church building.  Some of the ladies at the church were ready for us with Hot Cross Buns and Hot Chocolate, a welcome gift on a rainy BC day.  Since that day Hot Cross Buns have been synonymous with Good Friday.  I have to admit that I've always let the Superstore do the baking for me.  Until this year.
This year my daughter (age 3) and I baked them together.  I grabbed the Pioneer Woman's Recipe because let's face it, if anyone knows how to make Hot Cross Buns it would be her.  The only thing I did differently was the icing.  I used my own sugar cookie icing instead as I had all those ingredients on hand.  It worked just fine. 

Buns Recipe

• 2 cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 package (2 1/4 Teaspoons) Active Dry Yeast
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup (additional) Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• Spices: Cardamom, Nutmeg, Allspice (optional)
• 1/2 cup Raisins   
  Combine 2 cups milk, canola oil, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. Stir and heat until very warm but not boiling. Turn off the heat and allow to cool until mixture is still warm, but not hot--about 30 minutes.
  
  Sprinkle yeast over mixture. Add 4 cups of flour and stir to combine. Mixture will be very sticky. Cover with a towel and set aside for 1 hour.
  
  Add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir till combined.
  
  Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and whatever other spices you want to use.
  
  Lightly flour surface. Press to slightly flatten dough. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle on about a third of the raisins. Then fold the dough over on itself and flatten again so the dough is "plain" again. Repeat the sugar/raisin process, then fold the dough again. Repeat a third time until all the raisins are used. (You won't use all the sugar/cinnamon mixture.)
  
  Pinch off ping pong or golf ball-size bunches of dough. With floured hands, quickly roll it into a ball, then turn the edges under themselves slightly. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes...an hour-plus is better.
  
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  
  Glaze
  Mix 1 egg white with a splash of milk. Brush onto each roll.
  Bake for 20 minutes, give or take, or until tops of buns have turned nice and golden brown.
  Remove from pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
  
  Icing
  
  1 cup icing sugar
  2 tbsp milk
  
  Mix the sugar with the milk.  Once mixed, put the icing into a ziplock bag.  snip one of the corners off just a little.  Use the ziplock bag as a pastry bag to pipe the cross on the top of the buns once they are cooled a little.
  
  
  *Did you know? 
  Some say sharing  a Hot Cross Bun with someone ensured unbroken friendship for the coming year. You're supposed to say these words: "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be."
  
  
  Read more: http://www.cooksinfo.com/hot-cross-buns#ixzz2R0qRPmxI
  
  
  

Minnie Mouse Cake

My daughter had a Minnie Mouse party for her birthday this year.  I had been gathering cake ideas on Pinterest for a while.  And there are some beautiful cakes out there!  After having mixed results with marshmallow fondant, and knowing kids don't really like the real stuff, I decided to nix a lot of the fancier cake ideas.  I went back to basics.  This cake was iced with regular old whipped vanilla frosting.  I dyed it pink and away I went.  The polka dots are large white chocolate chip disks found at the Bulk Barn.  I then used a pink ribbon to go around the bottom and to tie a bow on top.  This cake gives a good allusion to Minnie Mouse and I think it turned out super cute.

Egg Nog Fudge with Chocolate Ganache

Egg Nog Fudge with Chocolate Ganache

This was one recipe I picked up on Pinterest that I knew I had to try.  I have never been a fudge maker at Christmas.  Sugar Cookies, Shortbread and Nanaimo Bars are my thing (can you tell I'm from BC?)  But I love Egg Nog.  It's my little treat to sip after the kids are in bed in December.

My Egg Nog treat

OH MY GOODNESS!  This fudge was so delicious!  (I'm not one to type in capitals so you know I mean it!)  I give credit to the originator of this recipe at Rook No. 17 - thank you!

For the fudge

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, cut in to pieces

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup evaporated milk

10 ounces white chocolate, chopped (white chocolate chips can be substituted)

3 cups (7 oz.) mini marshmallows

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg  

2-3 Tablespoons dark rum or bourbon

For the ganache

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chopped, or high quality chips)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Ground nutmeg for garnish

An 8x8 pan (must be at least 2" tall), or a 9x9 pan

Candy Thermometer*

1.  Prepare your pan by lining bottom and sides with foil.  Allow foil to overhang at least two sides, so it can be used to lift the fudge from the pan in the end.  Spray foil with non-stick spray or lightly coat with butter. 

2.  Stir together the sugar, butter pieces, condensed milk, and evaporated milk in a 3 1/2 quart saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium high heat.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until a candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F (soft-ball stage).  The thermometer will shoot up to around 224 rather quickly, but it can take up to 20 minutes to slowly climb the remaining 10 degrees.  Be patient, stir frequently, and keep your burner set the lowest setting of "high" to maintain a boil, but prevent burning.

2.  Immediately remove pan from heat.  Remove thermometer.  Stir in the white chocolate until it has melted and incorporated completely.  Next, stir in the mini marshmallows until they have melted and are thoroughly incorporated.  The mixture will be quite thick.  Lastly, stir in the rum and nutmeg.

3.  Pour mixture in to prepared pan.  Cool for 15 minutes.

4.  While fudge is cooling, prepare the ganache by placing the chocolate in a medium bowl.  In a saucepan, or in the microwave, bring cream to a boil.  Pour boiling cream over the bowl of chocolate.  Allow to sit for 2 minutes.  With a small whisk or fork, gently bring the cream and melted chocolate together until thoroughly combined, smooth and shiny.

5.  Pour chocolate ganache over the fudge (which will be warm, but will have set by now).  Use a small offset spatula to smooth and level.

6.  Cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle lightly with ground nutmeg for garnish.  Allow the fudge to continue to cool, on a baking rack, until it comes to room temperature.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

7.  Lift fudge from pan by the overhanging foil.  Gently peel back and remove the foil.  With a sharp knife, cut in to 1" squares.  Wipe knife in-between slices to keep pieces looking neat and clean.  It is easiest to cut the fudge when it is cold. 

Store fudge in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped for up to 2 weeks.  Best when served at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Fudge

This was my first fudge and it was very easy and very yummy.  My kids loved it.
Here's the recipe:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla,
3/4 cup peanut butter.

Bring sugar and milk to a boil. Boil two and a half minutes. Keep stirring to prevent burning on the bottom. Remove from heat and stir in PB and vanilla. Pour into a 9x9 pan and let set.  I keep fudge in the fridge or freezer so it stays set properly.

Shredded Chicken Sandwiches

No, no picture this time.  This recipe speaks for itself.  It is super easy and super tasty!  Here it is:

chicken thighs (I used a half dozen)
can of coke (I've also used Dr. Pepper and I bet root beer would work too)
BBQ Sauce (lovin' the Sweet Baby Rays right now)

And that is it.

Put the chicken thighs in your slow cooker.  Pour the can of coke over top.  Keep heat on low for 8 hours or so.  Take the meat out and shred it with a fork into a bowl.  Squeeze a little BBQ sauce over top and mix it in to your liking.

I like to serve this meat on a toasted roll with a little potato salad and grilled corn on the cob on the side.

Delicious!

PS - Mom - Dad would love this!

Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

I cannot take credit for this delicious recipe, only the fact that I baked it and it was insanely good!  Yes, this is that recipe, the one that has been floating around Pinterest this fall.  It is time consuming, but it is completely and utterly worth it.  I made it during one of my Saturday baking days (one of those fabulous rainy days where the kids happened to be content to play Lego all day and allow me to bake).  These directions come from Sunny Side Up's blog, who got it from Willow Bird Baking.  (I love a good web of recipe trail). 


Ingredients
Bread
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp unsalted butter


Glaze
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar

*Sunny Side Up added 1 tbsp of rum to her Glaze which I did not



Directions
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, brown 2 tablespoons of butter, letting it bubble up and turn a dark golden brown but being careful not to allow it burn (turn black). Once browned, remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the milk, return to stove and heat through.**** Pour the milk and butter into the bowl of standing mixer (fitted with a dough hook) and allow to cool so it is no longer hot but also not cool (about 100-110 degrees F). Once it has reached a warm but not hot temperature add the yeast and 1/4 cup of sugar and allow to proof (this can take up to 8 minutes, the top will look foamy and the liquid cloudy). Then add the the pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Stir until combined then add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and knead for 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and just slightly sticky. If the dough is too moist, add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.

While dough is rising, brown another 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.** Making sure sugar evenly absorbs the butter. Set aside. Next, grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and flip out onto a clean floured surface and knead with hands for 1-2 minutes. Roll dough into a 20×12 inch rectangle.*** Evenly sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture and press into dough with palms of the hand. Cut the rectangle into 6 strips. Lay strips on top of each other and cut each strip into 6 even squares (cut in half then each half into thirds). Stack strips vertically into the loaf pan. Cover the pan with a clean towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.  (I ended up with 2 loaves from this recipe, there was too much dough for just one, so I split the strips evenly in the two pans)

In the meantime preheat an oven to 350 degrees. After rising in the pan bake for 30-40 minutes (mine took 37 exactly) or until top is a very deep golden brown.

To prepare the glaze, heat the butter, milk, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to boil then immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the  powdered sugar.

My kids went crazy for this bread.  It is a lot like a cinnamon bun, but with that pumpkin yumminess to it that is perfect for fall!

Gordon Ramsay's Garlic Rosemary Focaccia

When it comes to Gordon Ramsay people either love him or hate him.  I'm part of the love him crowd.  Masterchef is one of my favorite shows.  As harsh as he can be with people he truly loves good, quality food and good, quality cooking.  He doesn't settle and he pushes people to be better. 
Last night I was looking for a way to use up the rest of my fresh figs before they went off and I thought 'Flatbread'.  I decided to open up Gordon Ramsay's "Healthy Appetite" cookbook.  He did have a focaccia recipe in there.  His needed a couple of special flours that I don't have on hand, so I substitued All Purpose Flour in their place.  His measurements for active dry yeast were in the oz and g forms, which I'm not used to (I need tsp and tbsp) - I did weigh out my yeast, but being such a small amount, I'm still not sure I got it right so if anyone has a tsp version I'd appreciate the note.
His recipe was for the flatbread alone, I topped mine with sliced figs, sliced garlic, goat cheese and a little drizzle of raspberry basalmic vinegar.  I really liked the result, quite tasty.
So here's my version of a Gordon Ramsay dish:

1/4 oz (7g) active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt (he recommends fine sea salt, I used kosher salt)
2 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves (I subbed in dry rosemary)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed
1/4 extra-virgin olive oil

Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl.  Add the yeast and rosemary. Stir. 
Make a well in the center.  Add the crushed garlic, olive oil and water.   Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.  You should get a soft, not sticky dough.
Press the dough together and put it onto a lightly floured counter.  Kneed the dough for about 5 minutes.  Place it in a lightly oiled large mixing bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
Heat the oven to 400*.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and kneed lightly.  Place on a well-oiled baking sheet and gently flatten with the palms of your hands.  Pull and shape it to the edges of the baking sheet to form a 1/2 inch (1cm) thick rectangle.  Press with your fingertips to form indentations in the dough.
At this point I added the sliced figs, goat cheese, sliced garlic and raspberry basalmic vinegar.  He suggests rosemary leaves, whole garlic cloves and olive oil.
Bake for 15-20 minutes (until the bread is golden brown).  Let cool slightly, slice and serve warm.

Seafood Chowder

This morning we set out to the local Fisherman's Days down at the harbour.  What could be a better dose of Maritime Fun than the promise of a boat parade, a shell shucking contest, fiddle music, local displays and of course a bouncy castle for the kids?  Until we got there and it started raining shortly before the opening ceremonies.  We all huddled under the tents.  Feeling brave my family ventured out to look at the boats and what was still open of the displays.  My husband and I thought we would warm up a bit with a bowl of chowder from one of local vendors, except that it wasn't yet ready.  We went back, it still wasn't ready.  After the third time going back and starting to realize that the drizzle was not going to let up and that the wind was only getting stronger, we set ourselves back for home.  But now we both really wanted a bowl of chowder.
I remembered my dear friend Luan serving us the best seafood chowder at her husband's birthday a couple of years back and tried my best to find it.  This recipe jumped out at me in my search and by looking at the ingredients I thought it would be very good.  It was, it was very good indeed.
This recipe is an award winning recipe from PEI's Chef Jeff McCourt.  It took first prize in the PEI International Chowder Championship in 2003.  It is a little time consuming to make, but very much worth the effort.

1 cup (250 mL) butter
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
2 cups grated peeled potatoes
1/4 cup (50 mL) vermouth (I didn't have any vermouth, and substituted white wine instead)
2 cups (500 mL) milk
2 cups (500 mL) heavy cream
2 cups (500 mL) shellfish (choice of lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and/or crab) *I adapted this with what I had on hand, cooking up a little salmon, haddock and shrimp - I also added a can of sweet baby clams
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) diced potato, steamed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, add onions and sauté until translucent. Stir in garlic and continue to sauté until onions are golden brown. Add grated potato, vermouth, milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring often to prevent scorching, until potato is cooked, about 20 minutes.

In a blender, purée chowder base in batches, then return to chowder pot and season with salt and pepper.

Cook whatever shellfish you want to add to the chowder, retaining all liquid from the cooking process. Shuck and set seafood aside. Add cooking liquid to the chowder base. Add diced, cooked potato for texture. Add seafood, and check for seasoning one last time. Finish with chopped chives.  Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*I paired this with some homemade dinner rolls - delicious!

While making the chowder, I happened to chat with my friend Luan on the phone.  When I told her I was making chowder and was remembering how much I loved hers, she started to tell me her recipe.  It turns out this is the recipe she uses!  Too funny :)

 

Dinner Rolls

Is there anything cozier than the smell of homemade bread baking on a rainy day?  I know, you wouldn't expect it to be in August, but after piles of gorgeous August weather, today we had a cold, rainy, windy day, so I baked a little.  I'm not usually a bread baker, though I'd like to be and I am getting better at it because I do enjoy it, it's just something you need to have the time for.
I have these very fond memories of Sunday dinners where my Uncle's Mom (who I called Nana Murray) would bring fresh baking of beautiful pies and dinner rolls.  Making these today brought me back to those suppers.
I know these aren't the prettiest rolls to look at (I'll have to work on my forming technique) but they were so tasty!

I found the recipe via Pinterest (with a warning these rolls are like crack).  That pin led me to "Eat Cake for Dinner".  She found the recipe floating around blogland herself.  The claim was that these are Texas Roadhouse rolls copycat recipe - a restaurant I'd never heard of before. 

4 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water

2 c. milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm

3 Tbsp. of melted butter, slightly cooled

1/2 c. sugar 

2 quarts all purpose flour (7-8 cups)

2 whole eggs

2 tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar; let stand until frothy.  Combine yeast mixture, milk, 1/2 cup sugar and enough flour to make a medium batter (about the consistency of pancake batter).  Beat thoroughly.  Add melted butter, eggs and salt.  Beat well.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto counter and let dough rest.  Meanwhile, grease a large bowl.  Knead dough until smooth and satiny and put in greased bowl; turn over to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.  Punch down.  Turn out onto a floured board.  Divide into portions for shaping; let rest 10 minutes.  Shape dough into desired forms.  Place on greased baking sheets.  Let rise until doubled.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (I did bake mine for closer to 20 minutes).  Baste immediately with butter.  Yield: 5 to 6 dozen.  (I didn't get that many, I got 4 dozen and those were pretty small - I can't imagine how small they would be to make 5-6 dozen)