Slow Cooker Sweetness

The following recipe is one more reason I have to be grateful for Jeff. You see, he's mentioned a couple times that slow-cooking is his favorite way to prepare meat--it just gives it such a tender texture. In my family, we had two or three classic slow cooker meals, but our crockpot was very rarely used beyond those few. Taking Jeff's cue, though, I've tried two slow cooker meals from one of our wedding presents ("Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Feasting with your Slow Cooker") and I'm planning on trying many more. The winner this week?

Orange Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

*Official Endorsement: This recipe is ridiculously yummy and, as is the way of the crock pot, simple in both ingredients and effort.*

Ingredients:
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (I used 3. I love sweet potatoes!!)
3 whole chicken breasts, halved
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
dash pepper
dash garlic powder
10 3/4 ounce can cream of celery or cream of chicken soup (I used celery, and the recipe was amazing, but it might be amazing either way)
4 ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp. grated orange rind
2 tsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. flour

Directions:
1. Place sweet potatoes in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry. Combine flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, and garlic powder. Thoroughly coat chicken in flour mixture (Don't throw away extra flour--see below). Place on top of sweet potatoes.
3. Combine soup with remaining ingredients (for the 3 Tbsp. of flour, I used the leftover flour from coating the chicken, as there was at least 1/4 cup left). Stir well. Pour over chicken breasts.
4. Cover. Cook on Low 8-10 hours or High 3-4 hours. Serve over rice.

"Victory for inventiveness, Katie"

That's what Jeff just said to me. This one's easy, and it came to me from above:

Put a slice of banana inside of a cookie-sized ball of peanut butter cookie dough. Bake as directed. That's all.

Cookievana.

P.S. From further experience, peanut butter oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips are possibly even better and aren't so funnily shaped.

Pumpkin Ginger Snap Ice Cream

This, I am quite proud to say, was an experimental recipe that I thought up entirely on my own. Jeff and I got an icecream maker as a wedding present, and this was, I think, our fourth time using it. I had some extra pumpkin and wanted to make pumpkin ice cream. There are plenty of good recipes online if you want to make it yourself, or you can just buy some.

My innovation was mixing in cookie dough, but ginger snap dough, not chocolate chip. I made my favorite ginger snap recipe from the Ivy Bake book, but I left out the baking powder and soda and the egg (they're unnecessary, since I wouldn't be baking the cookies, and unwanted, since it would leave raw egg in the icecream). Instead, to get the ingredients moist enough to stir into dough, I just added water (milk would probably have worked better). I froze the ginger snap dough for an hour or two, then took it out and cut it into small cubes. Then I mixed it into softened pumpkin icecream for a delicious treat. Extra good in crepes!

Greek-style Sloppy Joes

We inherited some ground lamb from a generous ward member with an overflowing freezer, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. When I looked up ground lamb in our ever-trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I found this simple, delicious recipe. Even better was the discovery that you can turn the Kaiser rolls in the recipe into bread bowls! Add a cup or so of beef broth to a couple servings' worth of sloppy joe mix, crumble feta on top, and you've got a Greek-style Sloppy Joe Soup.


Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground lamb or beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup bulgur
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 6 kaiser rolls, split and toasted
• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese with tomato and basil or plain feta cheese

Directions:

1. In a large skillet cook ground meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Stir in tomato sauce, bulgur, oregano, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.

2. To assemble, arrange romaine on bottom halves of rolls. Spoon meat mixture on romaine. Sprinkle with feta cheese; replace top halves of rolls. Makes 6 sandwiches.

BEST chocolate chocolate chocolate BROWNIES!!!

This is a recipe I got from my friend and Nauvoo Sister, Jessica Woahn (currently serving a full-time mission in Washington state), at my bridal shower last April. Tonight was the first time I'd tried it, and may I just say: Wow. I tell you what, wow. They're called "The Best Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Brownies," (I reproduced her way of writing it in the title of this post) and they really are the best and most chocolatey brownies I have had in quite a while. Plus they are ridiculously easy.

Here's the recipe:

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 large pkg. chocolate pudding mix
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 cups milk

Mix ingredients. Spray pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

What I did was mix all the dry ingredients, split them in half and save half the bag for later, mix the remaining half with 1 1/2 cups of milk, and bake it in a 9x9 pan. Good thing I halved the recipe, because they were so good I had to have quite a few of them. They have the softest consistency and the richest flavor. Yum, yummy, yummy, yum, Yum!

Other Halloween Treats

As per request from my lovely Aunt Kate, here are the recipes for the Scary Eyeballs and the Pan de Muertos from my last Wikipedia Brown post. (Let me warn you, though, that although these are fun to make and they look great, the Pumpkin Pear Bread Pudding of the last post is the most delicious of the three.)

Scary Eyeballs (These came from the wonderful weekly newsletter of my Relief Society):

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons salted butter (I just added some salt to my regular butter)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Butterfinger candy bar, chopped into pieces
2 cups of white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons shortening
1 pkg. Butterfinger BB's candies (I used M&Ms)
1 small tube red decorator icing (I left this out, but it would have been cool)

Directions:
1. Line cookie sheet with wax paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together peanut butter and butter until creamy. Beat in powdered sugar until mixture is moistened and holds together. Stir in chopped Butterfinger bar. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheet. Freeze for 1 hour.
3. Melt white chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave on a medium setting until creamy. Remove cookie sheet from freezer. Using a toothpick, dip eyeballs into white chocolate. Let excess drip off, then return to cookie sheet. Press 1 Butterfinger BB (or M&M) onto top of each eyeball to form pupil. (You'll probably need to do this right after dipping each eyeball. Otherwise, the white chocolate hardens on the frozen peanut butter ball too quickly and the BB/M&M won't stick.)
4. Refrigerate eyeballs until chocolate is set. With tube of red decorator icing, pipe lines from the pupil to create bloodshot markings. Store covered in refrigerator. Serve cold. Makes 30.

Pan de Muertos:

(I'm not sure where this recipe came from--a Spanish class in Junior High, maybe?--but it's become a tradition for me nearly every November 1st or so. It's really delicious, especially now that, after my summer-long training in the Family Living Center in Nauvoo, I really know how to knead and raise dough. Intense dough kneading can really give your arms a workout!)

Ingredients:
1 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. finely grated orange peel
1/2 tsp. ground anise seeds (I used fennel)
1 envelope (T.) active dry yeast
a pinch of sugar
1/4 cup warm water
2 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tsp. water
5 1/4-5 1/2 c. flour
2 T. sugar

Directions:
Scald milk by heating to just under boiling point, about 180 degrees. Pour over butter, sugar, salt, peel, and ground anise in a large bowl. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool. Stir yeast and pinch of sugar into 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand until yeast is softened. Beat whole eggs and egg yolks in a small bowl. Spoon 2 T. beaten eggs into another small bowl. Stir in 1 T. water. Refrigerate and use for glaze.
Stir softened yeast and remaining beaten eggs into milk mixture. Stir enough flour into milk mixture to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, at least 10 minutes, adding more flour if needed. Clean and grease bowl. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with a dry cloth towel. Let stand in a warm place free from drafts until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch down dough and turn out onto surface. Let rest while greasing 2 small baking sheets (or one large one). Brush with some of the reserved egg mixture. Divide one of the small pieces of dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll 2 pieces into 8- to 9-inch ropes. Form skull and cross bones. Moisten bottom of skull with egg mixture and press firmly onto crossed bones on loaf. Repeat with 2nd loaf. Cover loosely with towels. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush loaves evenly with egg mixture. Sprinkle each loaf with 1 T. sugar. Bake 30-35 minutes or until browned. Remove from baking sheet; cool on racks.

This bread is delicious with honey butter. I just found a recipe online that called for about 1/2 cup butter, 1 T. honey, 1 t. vanilla, and 1/2 t. cinnamon, mixed together.

Pumpkin Pear Bread Pudding

Looking for a delicious and exceptionally tasty Fall treat? This one was pretty amazing. I've had the recipe for years, but I only just tried it. It's from the Pendulum Court cafe at BYU. I was silly enough to make this when we weren't planning on having anyone over for dessert, so Jeff and I snacked on it for a week or so.

Ingredients:
1 loaf Rhodes™ Bread Dough, baked and cubed (I just used about 18 pieces of normal wheat bread)
15 oz can pumpkin
2 eggs
1 cup canned pears, drained and chopped
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
1/2 tablespoon ginger
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Streusel:
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add pumpkin, pears, milk, sugar and spices and mix well. Gently stir in bread cubes until completely coated. Pour into a 9-inch sprayed square baking dish or spring form pan. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours (may be refrigerated overnight).

Just before baking, combine streusel ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle mixture over Bread Pudding. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve while still warm, with a dollop of whipped cream.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

From the Better Homes and Gardens' Anyone Can Cook book, these tasty treats totally satisfied my chocolate craving last Wednesday evening. Jeff and I snacked on them while watching "Murder by Death," a 1976 Neil Simon classic that I highly recommend. Peter Sellers (the detective in the Pink Panther, the crazy german scientist in a wheelchair in Dr. Strangelove, etc.) is hilarious as a proverb-spouting Chinese detective with an adopted Japanese son.

But to get back to the food.

Ingredients:
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I just used semisweet choc chips)
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
Chocolate Drizzle (see below)

1. In a 2-quart saucepan combine chocolates and butter. Heat and stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Stir together flour, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a small bowl and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine sugars and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until color lightens slightly. Beat in melted chocolate. Add flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in pecans. Cover surface of cookie dough with plastic wrap and let stand for 20 minutes to thicken.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil (and spray with Pam). Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto sheets. Bake for 9 minutes or until tops are just set. Let stand 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Spoon Chocolate Drizzle over cookies. Makes 60 (92 calories and 6g fat each).

Chocolate Drizzle:

Combine 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces with 4 teaspoons shortening in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the chocolate melts and is smooth. Remove from the heat and drizzle away.
Chocolate Drizzle

Garlic Chicken Pizza

I hereby add my testimony to that of Katie Hale: Juli's pizza crust is scrumptious. When I heard Katie's description of it, I decided I needed to try it. After all, Juli gave it to me in the wonderful book of family recipes and advise that I got from all of you last Christmas. On top of that excellent base, I added the toppings for Garlic Chicken Pizza, a recipe from my Cooking Light book. This is great for a big group. It's really good, looks impressive, and is, again, very easy.

It works well (though I didn't do it this way, but would have if I had thought of it beforehand) if you prepare the topping ingredients (cooking and shredding chicken, chopping vegetables, etc.) while the pizza dough is rising.

Juli's Grilled Pizza Dough

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 T. olive oil
1 package active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups flour
1 t. salt
cornmeal
olive oil (optional)

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine warm water, the 2 T. oil, the yeast, and sugar. Stir to dissolve yeast. Let stand about 10 minutes or until foamy.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine 3 cups of the flour and the salt. Stir yeast mixture into flour mixture until combined. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough that is smooth but slightly sticky (about 5 minutes total). (Juli's note: the dough is sticky, but don't be tempted to add extra flour - that's what makes it so crisp.)
4. Place dough in an oiled bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 45 minutes).
5. Punch dough down (fun! I love the fist impression in the dough). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into four equal portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough out.
6. Sprinkle a baking sheet or pizza peel with cornmeal. Place the dough on the baking sheet or peel (I spread mine out into a 9x13 rectangle. Otherwise this recipe, which makes enough for four 10-inch rounds, might have been too much for one pizza).
7. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Garlic Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

2 T. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1 cup chopped plum tomato
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (for Juli's crust it says 450 - I averaged and went with 425).
2. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Place crust on baking sheet; brush vinegar mixture over crust. Top with chicken, tomato, and mushrooms; sprinkle with cheeses and green onions.
3. Bake for 15 minutes or until mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses melt.

Stuffed Chicken

This recipe was amazing, and the presentation of it made me feel like a gourmet chef. But it was also very easy and very fast!

Ingredients:

Roasted red peppers (two cups worth--I used two small jars)
Feta cheese (1/4 lb)
Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, 4 (I used 3 breasts or 6 halves, and it just held all the filling), or about 1.5 lbs total weight
Prosciutto or cooked ham, 4 (6) large thin slices (I used turkey bacon--healthier, precooked, cheaper, easier to wrap)

1. Prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a shallow baking dish large enough to hold all the chicken breasts in a single layer. In a small bowl, mix together the roasted red peppers, feta cheese, and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Also add some lemon zest or just a little lemon juice for a little zing.

2. Stuff the chicken. Place each chicken breast on a work surface. Cut each in half lengthwise all the way through. Spread 1/4 (1/6) of the filling in the center of each breast. Fold the chicken breast closed and season with salt and pepper. Wrap 1 prosciutto (or bacon) slice tightly around each chicken breast and place in the prepared dish.

3. Bake until the prosciutto (bacon) is crisp and the chicken is opaque throughout, between 20 and 35 minutes depending on the thickness of the breasts. Enjoy! (You will.)

The original recipe called for 2 cups spinach and 1/4 lb. goat cheese, but I preferred to try the alternate version they provided. That one could be good as well...

Easy Icecream Parfait

I don't have a picture for this one, but we just tried it last night and it was to die for. Plus it's ridiculously easy. Simply layer icecream, crumbled ginger snaps (preferably the Ivy Bake recipe--which are the best I've ever had), banana slices, and chopped toasted pecans in a cup or dessert dish, put in the freezer for 10 minutes until chilled, and enjoy. I did two layers in some glass cups, and the result was both beautiful and delicious.

For variations, try baked apple slices (cook a peeled and cored apple in a bowl--with 1/2 an inch of water and covered with plastic wrap--in the microwave for 3 minutes until tender) or peaches instead of bananas.

Ivy Bake Gingersnap Cookies

These will change your life. They changed my husband's. He said he wasn't a fan of gingersnaps until he had these. And in this parfait dessert, they're like crumbled bits of heaven in your mouth. (Plus, when you're making them, the ridiculous amounts of spices look really pretty before you mix them in.)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg 1 tsp cloves
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 cups flour
sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together shortening, sugar, and molasses. Add egg, baking soda, salt, and spices; mix until well blended. Add flour and mix until combined; chill (or not). Roll dough into 1-inch balls and then roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly with fingers. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until cookies appear slightly cracked. Makes 2-3 dozen.

Lemon Pancakes and Toffee Bars: Anniversary Time!

It's our two-month anniversary! (Everybody say, "Aww...")

I celebrated this morning by making an amazing recipe we found in the Salt Lake Tribune a few months ago: Lemon-lovers' ricotta pancakes with blueberry sauce.



Ingredients:

Pancakes:
1 cup flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 cup ricotta cheese (or substitute either cottage cheese mixed with an egg yolk or--get this! I tried it this morning--equal parts yogurt and cream cheese! I tried vanilla yogurt with 2 or 3 ounces of cream cheese, and it was scrumptious)
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup lemon juice (A lot, I know)
2 t. grated lemon zest
1 T. oil

Blueberry sauce:
1 T. lemon juice
2 t. cornstarch
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 T. water
1/4 t. salt

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest and oil. Fold wet mixture into dry to make a thick batter.
Grease a frying pan or griddle and warm over medium-low heat. Measure out 1/4-cup of batter for each pancake. Cook and flip until bronwed on each side.
For the sauce, combine lemon juice and cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring blueberries, sugar, water, and salt to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and stir in lemon juice/cornstarch mixture. Simmer, stirring, until sauce thickens (about 2 minutes).
Makes 5 servings

Also, for you Ivy Bake lovers, here's the recipe for Millenium Toffee Bars (we made these last night for the hard-working Elders Quorum guys--Jeff among them--who were helping a family move out of the ward). Read the directions carefully on this one. It has a lot of divided ingredients and layering and suchlike.

We didn't have enough chocolate chips, so I supplemented with Butterscotch chips. A highly recommended variation.



Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 cups toffee bits, divided

Directions:

Grease a 9x13-inch glass dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, butter, and brown sugar; add egg and mix well. Add 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and nuts. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture. Press remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and pour sweetened condensed milk over mixture. Top with 1 1/2 cups toffee bits, the reserved crumb mixture, and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Return to oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining toffee bits. Cool before cutting, or just eat it with a spoon! Makes 12-16 servings.

Rice Krispies galore

I'm experimenting with more artistic photography. Do you think this could be in a cookbook? A little out of focus, perhaps...

Anyhoo, these recipes are both delicious and very easy to make.

The first is from the ever dependable Ivy Bake Cookbook.

Caramel Rice Krispies Bar

Ingredients:

Caramel:
1 (14 oz.) bag caramels, unwrapped
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 c.) butter

Rice Krispies:
1 1/2 sticks butter, divided
10 cups mini marshmallows
10 cups Rice Krispies, divided

Directions:

Melt caramels, sweetened condensed milk, and butter in a bowl in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir until smooth.
In another bowl, melt 6 tablespoons butter with 4 cups marshmallows for 70 seconds. Stir until smooth and pour over 5 cups of cereal. Stir until covered. Place in a greased 9x13 dish. Sprinkle 2 cups mini marshmallows on top, then pour caramel mixture over marshmallows. Refrigerate.
Make the second layer of krispies the same way as above and place on top of the caramel layer. Chill until firm.
Makes 12-15 servings.

The second is from the boyfriend of one of my former roommates. Watch out--they're addicting!

Ridiculously Delicious (and Heavy) Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Courtesy of Nate Barney

1 cup Corn syrup
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup each of Chocolate and Butterscotch chips

Heat corn syrup and sugar. Just before it comes to a boil, remove it from heat. Stir in peanut butter over low heat. Add rice krispies and stir. Put mixture in a 9x13 pan.
Melt chips in the microwave on power level six, stirring every minute until melted. Spread on top of rice krispies.
Refrigerate until cool.

After making both of those over the past weekend, I'm starting a diet today. :) Why would I make both, you ask? Simple. I had leftover caramel from an older desert, so I had to use that. And I had leftover rice krispies cereal from the first batch of Rice Krispies, so I had to use that as well. I can't stand wasting perfectly good ingredients!

Pineapple Coconut-Banana Upside-Down Cake

To all afraid of dessert tolls, never fear: this recipe is from the Cooking Light book my mom gave me. So it has to be healthy, right? I actually made some modifications when I tried it that made it even healthier, though I'd like to try the original some time.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. butter (I used margarine)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 (15.5 oz.) can pineapple slices in juice, undrained
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut (I skipped this, since I didn't have any)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 banana) (I used applesauce)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large egg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet; sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Drain pineapple slices over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Place 1 pineapple ring in center of pan. Cut remaining pineapple rings in half and arrange around center pineapple ring. Sprinkle evenly with coconut. Set aside.
3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife (Side note: this is how the book recommends always measuring flour. When you measure flour by scooping with the cup measure, you compress it and end up using 3 tablespoons or so too much flour, which is bad for recipes.). Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine reserved 1/2 cup juice, banana, oil, and egg, stirring with a whisk. Add pineapple juice mixture to flour mixture, stirring until combined. Pour flour mixture over coconut. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 10 servings. (Calories 301, 9g fat, 54.8g carbs, 1.4g fiber)

After I made this, and Jeff saw the pile of dishes in the sink, he started singing, "Oh ye mountains high..." I love him.

Better-Than-A-Hostess-Cupcakes

Maybe you think that this wouldn't be hard, but there are some who would argue with you. This is the name that, after much deliberation, we settled on for what are traditionally known as Black Bottom Cupcakes. Jeff didn't think that name really fit. The recipe is from the Ivy Bake cookbook.

Better-Than-A-Hostess-Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
(These last two are optional)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
Beat cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt together until light and fluffy. Stir in chocolate chips; set aside.
Sift flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt together. Add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla, and then beat thoroughly.
Line muffin pans with paper liners (or just cooking spray). Fill cups about one-third full and then top each with a heaping teaspoon of cream cheese mixture. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and almonds in a bowl and then sprinkle on top of cupcakes (that's the part I skipped). Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Did you know that, besides being scrumptious, cupcakes have a practical side, too? After a little research on Wikipedia, Jeff and I discovered that this muffin tray is saying "Hi" in Braille.

Russian-fest: Vareniki and Bliny

Last Friday and Saturday, Jeff and I celebrated his one-year-back-from-the-mission anniversary. We had crockpot Beef Stroganoff for dinner (recipe to come) and some Vareniki (apple dumplings, emphasis on the second syllable) for dessert Friday.


With an apple cinnamon filling, they were good at first, but a little bland--they were much better after we decided to Americanize them by rolling them in cinnamon sugar.

Apple Vareniki:

Ingredients:
Filling:

2 ea Apples, peeled 1 ts Cinnamon 1 ts Lemon juice, fresh 2 tb Butter Dough: 4 c Flour 1/2 c Milk, warm 1 Egg 1 Egg Yolk 2 tb Sour cream 1/2 ts Salt 1 ts Butter

Directions:
Mix dough ingredients and knead into a soft & pliable dough. Cover & let sit for 10 minutes in a warm bowl. Knead for 15-20 minutes at most. Divide the dough in 1/2. Roll thin. Cut into
2-inch squares or use the rim of a large round glass. Take one piece & stretch slightly, place a small spoonfull of filling in the center, fold dough over & very carefully seal the edges. Wetting the edge very slightly insures a good seal. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook Vareniki until they float, then gently remove from pot with a slotted spoon.


Saturday's dessert, made by Chef Jeff (whoa, that's way too fun to say) was Blini (thick crepes spread with jam or, if you want to do it Russian style, sweetened condensed milk). I have to include the description from russianfoods.com, though. It's pretty priceless:
"Bliny is a Russian traditional dish. They are baked in a great quantity at Shrove (carnival) - last week before Lent. Bliny making was a real sacred mystery. People told fortunes on the dough, kept their recipes of Bliny in secret. The first Bliny were put on the window-sills for poor people and pilgrims. The foreigners were very surprised at how many Bliny Russians could eat. At Shrove mother-in-law must bake a lot Bliny for her son-in-law. The most popular Bliny were made from buckwheat flour. Good Bliny must be very very thin. The thinner Bliny are the perfect your skill is."



Bliny:

Ingredients:

1 c flour 3 c milk 1/2 ts soda 2 tb vegetable oil salt and sugar to taste (Jeff and I make dessert bliny, so we add a few tbs of sugar) 2-3 eggs

Directions:
Mix eggs with 3 cups of milk . Add salt and flour and mix thoroughly (so that there are no flour lumps in it). Heat a frying pan and grease with vegetable oil. Pour a thin layer of batter evenly. over the pan, like an omelet (remember, "the thinner Bliny are the perfect your skill is"). Add more flour if you are not successful with thin bliny. Cook until light brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
Spread with jam, syrup, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and sugar, or any other topping you please. Then roll up and enjoy.