Fresh Dill Butter

What do you do when you have an entire bunch of fresh organic dill weed delivered to your door step?  Make dill butter of course!!!  Just use one pound unsalted butter, flake sea salt, and fresh dill then blend with mixer and place into four 4-ounce mason jars.  

P.S. It makes a great hostess gift!  Do an assortment of flavors to hand out for Christmas!

~ Angela O'

Grab & Go Half Pint Steel Cut Oatmeal Cups

One of my favorite Grab & Go breakfasts is half pint steel cut oatmeal cups.  I make one or two batches each time, loading the half pint mason jars and stacking them in the fridge so that my husband and I can grab one before work or exercise! They are super easy and rewarding both when you are hungry and when someone at work comments on how cute/clever the cups are.

My preferential taste for steel cut oatmeal is Bob's Red Mill which can be found at Costco in large bags for a fraction of the leading grocery store cost and is naturally gluten free.  I also store those large bags in giant mason jars!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup - Steel Cut Oatmeal, uncooked
• 1/4 tsp - Salt
• 2 cups - Water
• Your Favorite Add-Ins!  Pecans, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, Agave, Fresh Fruit, Dried Fruit, etc.
• 4 - Half Pint Mason Jars (8 ounces), with lid and ring
• 1 - Medium Sauce Pot, with fitted lid
• 1 - Stirring Spoon
• 1/4 cup - Dry Measuring Cup, empty and clean

Directions:

Make in the afternoon or evening, prior to the morning you want it.  Place 2 cups water in medium sauce pan and reach boil.  As soon as the water boils remove from heat and add the 1 cup of steel cut oatmeal and 1/4 tsp salt.  Quickly stir the mixture and immediately place lid on sauce pot.  Leave off of hot burner so it doesn't boil over.  Do not remove the lid again as this recipe requires the heat and steam to cook the oats!  Leave for 3 hours.  After 3 hours open the lid and stir the oatmeal.  You'll find it's complete.  Some people leave in the pot overnight and call it "overnight oatmeal" but I don't have time for that!  The whole point of having grab and go oatmeal is so that I don't have to fiddle with it in the morning before work.  Now for the fun part!  Take your empty 1/4 cup dry measuring cup and put two scoops of the oatmeal mixture in one half pint mason jar.  At this time you can choose to mix add-ins with the oatmeal inside the jar or you may wait to add them in before you eat the oatmeal.  Because I like my pecans crunchy I always add in my goodies just before consuming.  However, my husband likes brown sugar in his oatmeal so it is safe to add that in early.  Once you are done filling the jars, wipe the edges of the jar clean and seal with the lid and ring.  Place in your fridge until ready to consume.  One batch of this recipe will make 4 half cup servings of oatmeal.  I like to double my recipe so that 8 half cup servings (8 half pint mason jars) are an easy grab for the two of us.  When you are ready to eat your oatmeal take off the lid and ring and set aside, placing only the glass jar filled with oatmeal in the microwave.  Caution the sides of jar will be very hot! Microwave for thirty seconds to one minute maximum.  I find that the top of the jar where the lid screws on at tends to be cooler than the glass sides but to be safe just remove from microwave with towel.  Stir you oatmeal with a spoon.  Mix your add-ins!  Yummy!!

With Angela O'

Chipotle Guacamole

All of my friends that love Chipotle love their guacamole.  I don't know a single person who doesn't.  Anytime my friends come over to my house they also love my homemade guacamole!  The first trick:  Never add raw tomatoes to a good guacamole....it ruins it every time.  The second trick: My guacamole recipe is the exact Chipotle guacamole recipe, handed directly down from the restaurant.

All, Chipotle has made their recipe available to the world right on their own website.  Most don't know about it.  So here I share!  

Recipe Credit:  Chipotle Mexican Grill at  

https://chipotle.com/guac-recipe

THIS IS ALL YOU’LL NEED:

2 ripe Hass avocados (In the restaurant, we use 48 per batch, multiple times per day)

2 tsp lime juice

2 tbsp cilantro (chopped)

1/4 cup red onion (finely chopped)

1/2 jalapeño, including seeds (finely chopped)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

HOW TO DO IT:

1. Choose the right avocado. It should feel squishy yet firm (like the palm of your hand), and be a nice dark green color on the inside.

2. Cut the avocado in half and the remove the pit (carefully!)

3. Scoop the avocados and place in a medium bowl.

4. Toss and coat with lime juice.

5. Add the salt and using a fork or potato masher, mash until a smooth consistency is achieved.

6. Fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well.

7. Taste the guacamole (over and over) and adjust seasoning if necessary.

**Disclaimer: So that you know I made zero mistakes in blogging and editing of the recipe, I have copy and pasted it directly from the Chipotle Mexican Grill website.  So if it doesn't taste right to you go back and reread their recipe and maybe add a little more of one of their ingredients.**

With Angela O'

Tarragon Chicken Salad

This is a very simple recipe that requires little time and effort to make it delicious.  It can easily be altered from a one person dish to a twelve person dish.

Ingredients:

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts 
• Dried Tarragon
• Mayonnaise
• Almond Slivers

Instructions:

Boil the chicken breasts in a pan of water on top of the stove.  Once fully cooked, drain water and let chicken breasts cool.  Note that you can keep this water for another recipe!  You have just made homemade chicken broth. Once the chicken breasts have cooled to touch, shred them into small to medium size pieces.  In a bowl, mix the shredded chicken, mayonnaise, almond slivers and tarragon. Chill.  Serve with bread, buns, or crackers.


Rules for this Chicken Salad:

• Do NOT add any type of flavoring or bouillon to the water when boiling the chicken.  You will RUIN the recipe.  Obviously, fresh chicken boiled in water makes a fantastic flavor on its own. Don't ruin it with additives.
• I prefer the method of stove top cooking rather than crock pot cooking for this recipe. Crock pot is unnecessary, messy, and lengthy.  The stove top method will only take 20 minutes to one hour depending on the amount of chicken breast you are cooking.
• Do not add cranberries to this recipe.  Save the cranberries for a separate walnut chicken salad recipe.  I've seen a mix and feel that these salad identities should stay separate.
• It is possible to substitute Greek yogurt for mayonnaise if you desire.
• I feel very strongly about using a generous amount of tarragon.  It is delicious and I tend to have the most compliments the more I use.  The last time I made 8 chicken breasts I actually dumped the entire brand new bottle of tarragon in.  Boy did that go over very well!!!  However, it should also be known that it is not required to use an entire bottle.  Start with a medium amount and then you will learn your preference.
• For a better flavor, make the salad the night before and store in refrigerator.  This will allow the tarragon flavor to penetrate the chicken.
• You may choose to add salt or pepper but I typically do not add.  People that love sodium never complain about zero salt in this recipe.  The tarragon fulfills their senses.
• How much salad do you want?  Enough for one person for two meals? Then cook one breast of chicken (if you are a culinary guru then that would be a half of breast...just make one filet!!)

Irish Cream Bundt Cake

Many of you asked for this recipe so here it is.  My Aunt Shirley gave it to me one Christmas folded inside of a Bundt pan.  She pulled it from allrecipes.com but had originally enjoyed it as a guest at a party.

~With Angela O'

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

Glaze

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).  Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.  Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix.  Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur.  Beat for 5 minutes at high speed.  Pour batter over nuts in pan.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert on to the serving dish.  Prick top and sides of cake.  Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake.  Allow to absorb glaze, repeat until all glaze is used up.  

4.  To make the glaze:  In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar.  Bring to boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream.

Breadcrumbs Are No Longer a Pain In The Ass

That's right home cooks.  Making homemade breadcrumbs have never been so simple and quick till now! I don't even know why I never thought of it till now. Just grab a few slightly stale (just not so fresh) slices a bread and drop them into your food processor.  Blend from a few seconds to 20 seconds depending on how fine you want the crumbs.  TaDa!  No more crumbing by hand.  Good riddance to that.

~With Angela O'

Pumpkin Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

Everyone loves a great pumpkin recipe.  This one is pretty darn good!  Thanks Aunt Shirley for sharing.

Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil  (I prefer corn oil)

2 cups sugar

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

1 cup chopped English walnuts

Preheat oven to 350° . Sift flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices into a bowl. Add nuts.

In another bowl, combine eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin. Mix and blend well until smooth. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Then spread evenly into a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. (In reality, you are going to have to bake for more than 30 minutes.  Mine took 47 minutes to be exact.)

Frosting:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

1/3 cup butter

1 Tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar  (If you want more of a cream cheese flavor use only 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar)

Combine cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla into a bowl. Mix well; add powdered sugar gradually, beating after each addition. After mixed well spread on slightly warm cake. Cool and cut.

Lighter Three-Cheese Mac

Here is a recipe for you all to try.  It is a yummy dish, but best ate fresh.  Try it for a small dinner party sometime.  I apologize that I didn't take any pictures this time!  So to make up for it I am typing in this cheesy looking font!  Bon Apetit.

Recipe by Martha Stewart's Food Magazine

Ingredients:

Salt

Pepper

1/2 lb short tubular pasta, such as cavatappi

2 cups broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

5 ounces Neufchatel cheese

3 cups 1% milk

1 1/4 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (5 ounces)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, toasted

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes less than package instructions.  Add broccoli and cook 3 minutes more.  Drain.

2.  Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan over medium-high.  Add onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and ground mustard.  Saute until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Add Neufchatel, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until incorporated.  Gradually whisk in milk, then bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in cheddar and Parmesan, then add pasta and broccoli.  Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish and bake until bubbling in center, about 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with panko, and serve.

Per Serving: 453 cal; 20 g fat (11 g sat fat); 21  g protein; 45 g car; 2 g fiber

Serves 6

Active Time: 20 min

Total Time: 45 min

*****************************************
Apparently I did take pictures!  I just could not find them at the time of this post.  Well, here they are!!
1/15/14
~ Angela O'

Coriander is Cilantro?

Holy Crap!  Did you know that Coriander is the exact same thing as Cilantro?!!

Bet you learned something new.

xoxo

hugs & quiches

~Angela O'




Here is a brief from http://www.squidoo.com/coriander-cilantro: 

Coriander or Cilantro?

What do you call it?

The Latin name for the herb in question is Coriandrum sativum, from which it can easily be seen where the word "coriander" is ultimately derived. The word "cilantro" is from the Spanish translation of this word.

In the United Kingdom, we would refer to the leaves and stalks of the plant as "coriander" and to the seeds as "coriander seeds": the word "cilantro" does not exist. In the United States, I now know that the leaves and stalks of the plant are referred to as "cilantro," while the seeds are referred to as "coriander."

In India, where the herb is extremely popular in cooking, it is referred to as "dhania" (just to further confuse the issue!)

Easy Italian Chicken with Potatoes

This is a delicious recipe to make when you are in a time crunch.  You know that I do not like using pre-made sauces and mixes but I'll make an exception with this recipe.   It is perfect for a whipping something up quick that requires a comforting balance.   The night before I will cut up the potatoes, put them in a bowl of water and then place them in the fridge to reduce my morning preparation.   Before work that next morning, I will just dump everything in the crock pot for 8 hours and voila...yummy potatoes with chicken so tender it shreds on its own.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup Ken's Italian Dressing with Garlic and Asiago Cheese (It's Gluten Free!!)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or mix basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, and garlic powder to equal)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
4 to 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

Instructions:
Place chicken in bottom of crockpot.  Sprinkle with half of the Italian dressing, spices, and the grated cheese.  Put the potatoes on top and around the chicken.  Sprinkle with the remaining dressing, spices, and cheese.

Cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours, till chicken is done and potatoes are tender.

Broccoli Cheese Frittata

 I just made this for dinner and it was delish!  You could serve it for a brunch if you so desire.

Ingredients:

1/2 pkg cream cheese, softened

6 eggs

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup finely diced red pepper

1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed or sliced zuchinni (I use fresh broccoli)

4 ounce (aka 1 cup) cheddar cheese, shredded

6 slices firm white sandwich bread

1 tbsp butter or margarine

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).  In large bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth.  Add eggs, milk, flour, salt and black pepper; whisk until well blended and set aside.

2.  Place onion, red pepper, broccoli and cheese in separate prep bowls.  Using 3-inch (7.5 cm) scalloped or round cutter, cut six rounds out of bread slices (discard trimmings).

3.  Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; arrange bread slices in single layer over bottom of pan.  Cook 1-2 minutes or until golden brown on one side; remove bread from pan and set aside.  Add onion and red pepper; cook and stir 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in broccoli and spread evenly over bottom of skillet.  Sprinkle with cheese.

4.  Slowly pour egg mixture over vegetables.  Arrange reserved bread slices, toasted-side up, over egg mixture (do not press down).  Place in oven and back 18 - 20 minutes or until egg mixture is set in center.  Remove from oven; serve warm.

Makes 6 servings

*Recipe credit goes to The Pampered Chef

So here's the deal...you can actually get away with using an entire 8 ounce package of cream cheese in this recipe.  How do I know? Apparently because I didn't completely read the instructions until after I made it!  Haha.

~xoxo, hugs and quiches

Angela O'

Lemon-Olive Shrimp Linguine

We made this the other night for dinner and it was delicious.  Light and refreshing and the very next night I was craving it again!  The only change that I would make would be to add some color to the dish.  I will admit that I forgot to buy the capers on my shopping list so that could have solved the problem before it begun.

Ingredients:
1 to 2 pounds uncooked, peeled & deveined shrimp
2 T - extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 tsp - Adams Reserve Rub seasoning
12 to 16 oz - linguine pasta
1/4 c - heavy cream
1/2 c - lemon vinaigrette
1/4 c - capers, rinsed and drained (optional)

Lemon Vinaigrette  (1/2 cup):
1 tsp - Dijon mustard
1 1/2 T - finely grated lemon zest
2 T plus 1 1/2 tsp - freshly squeezed lemon juice
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
6 T - extra-virgin olive oil

• Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain Well.
• Meanwhile, toss shrimp with oil and seasoning.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Saute shrimp 2 minutes or until just beginning to turn pink.
• Stir in vinaigrette  cream and capers; reduce heat to medium and bring to a boil.  Simmer 3 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken.  
• Ladle shrimp mixture over cooked pasta and serve immediately

Tips:

• I use extra cream.  For the two of us, 3/4 cup to 1 cup will suffice.  
• For the two of us I only cooked about 2 handfuls of shrimp, not measuring.  I'd rather not have the cooked seafood leftovers.  It's best to make it fresh when possible.
• The original grocery store recipe called for a brand name pre-made lemon-olive vinaigrette from a bottle.  Because I don't like using pre-made ingredients I chose to find my own lemon vinaigrette recipe.  The recipe used is from Martha Stewart.
• Adam's Reserve Rub can be substituted with any seasonings that you would like.

~xoxo, hugs and quiches

Angela O'

Double Chocolate Cake

Some of you have inquired about John's birthday cake.  I'll share the recipe with you.

Prep - 30 minutes

Bake - 30 minutes

Stand - 30 minutes

Cool - 10 minutes

Oven - 350 degrees

Cake Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 c - all-purpose flour
3/4 c - unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp - baking soda
3/4 tsp - baking powder
3/4 c- butter, softened
2 c - sugar
2 tsp - vanilla
1 1/2 c - milk
1/2 t - salt
3 oz - dark or bittersweet chocolate, grated

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 c - butter, softened
2, 3-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
5 oz - unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled (I think I used like 8 ounces!)
6 to 6 1/2 c - powdered sugar
1/4 c - milk


Cake Instructions:

• Allow eggs to stand at room temperature 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, grease three 8x1.5-inch round cake pans.  Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper.  Grease parchment paper and lightly flour pans; set aside.  In medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 F.  In large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds.  Gradually add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium until well combined.  Scrape sides of bowl; beat 2 minutes more.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined.  Beat on medium to high 20 seconds more.  Stir in grated chocolate   Dived batter among prepared pans.  (If you do not have three pans, refrigerate remaining batter until ready to use.)
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean.  Cool cakes in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.  Remove layers from pans.  Cool thoroughly on wire racks.
• Frost with desired frosting.  Store, covered, in refrigerator. 
• Makes 16 servings
• Each Serving (with frosting) 605 cal, 26 g fat, 92 mg chol, 334 sodium, 92 g carb, 4 g fiber, 7g pro.

Frosting Instructions:

• In large mixing bowl beat butter and cream cheese.
• Add chocolate and vanilla; beat until blended.
• Gradually beat in 3 cups powdered sugar and the milk.  
• Beat in enough remaining powdered sugar to make a spreading consistency.
• Makes 4 cups.
• Prep 20 min

*Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens magazine, February 2011

Ambrosia

Today was a perfect day for grilling outside with a couple of friends.  Nothing is a better compliment to food from the hot grill than the sweet cool taste of fluffy Ambrosia salad.  I have been eating this stuff since I was a kid and I still love it.  It makes about 10 to 12 servings and only takes 5 minutes to prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained

1 - 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 - 8 oz container of cool whip, thawed

1/4 cup nut pecans

Marshino cherries (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Gently fold all ingredients together using a spatula.  Cover and refridgerate until ready to serve.

Martha's American Food...Or Everyone else's sweat and tears?

So I am torn. Today Barnes and Nobles offered the cookbook Martha's American Food for $12.99 with any purchase. That is a $40.00 book. I love to cook and I love to entertain but I have to question buying an American cookbook, or any for that matter from Martha Stewart. I love all Martha Stewart products, but as an individual she leaves a bad taste in my mouth. She is an entertainer and she is a crafter, all things I relate to but she is not a chef. It is all of her staff who create those books, so I wonder really are these recipes genuine, soulful and from the heart? I mean a forty dollar cookbook would be better served from Julia Child, Paula Deen, or Gordon Ramsey. Not Martha Stewart. Ugh.

She is not the nicest person in the world. Her past actions are questionable and I am not referring to her prison history.  When friends and acquaintances call me Martha Stewart, I tend to want to correct them. I enjoy being a Jackie-of-all trades but seriously the only genuine thing that Martha did was stamp her label on it before all the us other ladies had the ability to be the public eye.

Well at $12.99, I decided not to pass up the offer. I'll let you know what I decide on some of those recipes in time.

Grab your copy using the link below.  A portion of the proceeds of this link will support this blog.

Martha's American Food: A Celebration of Our Nation's Most Treasured Dishes, from Coast to Coast

Fried Chicken

I have been reading The Help this week by Kathryn Stockett. I expected the book to be addicting but what I didn't expect was the burning desire to crave the food mentioned in the novel. I have never made fried chicken before but I have watched my gramma do it. Well when I say that I have watched her do it I mean that I have one memory of her cooking fried chicken on a summer evening, not actually seeing what she did to the chicken. So when Minny Jackson rattled off her instructions on how she made fried chicken I took a permanent mental note. Buttermilk, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, flour, and Crisco.

Here we are:

Fried chicken

Fried potatoes

Corn

I'm not going to lie, I had planned corn casserole instead of the standard corn side dish but I forgot to put in the oven and it takes about 45 minutes.

Not hard at all! Only patience is required. I think next time I'll tone down the cayenne however!

~ Angela O'

Baileys Filled Guinness Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  As promised here is the recipe I used to make the Bailey's Filled Guinness Cupcakes.  I fancied this cupcakes up by making the toppers with scrapbook paper, a circular punch, spray glue and Martha Stewart's peridot glitter.  The recipe credit does go to ABC's Good Morning America show.  

Bon Apetit!

~Angela O'

Difficulty: Easy

Prep & Cook Time: 60-120 min

Cupcake Base:

1 cup stout (Guinness)

16 tbsp. unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

For the Baileys ganache filling:

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

(*Angela used Ghirardelli 4oz milk choc and 4oz bittersweet)

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature

2 tsp. Baileys Irish cream

For the Baileys butter cream frosting:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3-4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

4-8 tbsp. Bailey's Irish cream

 *Angela used 8tbsp of Bailey's and 1 tbsp of heaving whipping cream

Cooking Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the stout and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sour cream to blend. Add the stout-butter mixture and beat just to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. To make the ganache filling, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for one minute and then whisk until smooth. If the chocolate is not completely melted, place the bowl over a double boiler or give it a very short burst in the microwave (15-20 seconds). Add the butter and Baileys and stir until combined. Set aside to let the ganache cool until it is thick enough to be piped. Pipe the ganache and enjoy.  **I used the cupcake corer to fill the ganache inside the cupcake.  It was very clean, easy and quick way to do so.  I purchased my cuisinpro cupcake corer from Williams Sonoma for $5.00

***GMA failed to give any instructions for the frosting.   So I just used my stand mixer to cream the butter and 4 tablespoons Baileys together, then added confectioners' sugar approximately one cup at a time.  About half way through adding the confectioners' sugar I added the other 4 tablespoons of Baileys and on a whim added 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.  Beat well.  

Irish Soda Bread

I make this every year for St. Patrick's Day.  It's my husbands favorite.  I'll also sneak it in a few other times throughout the year.  

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

vegetable oil, for brushing

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Brush a sheet with oil.  I'll admit I don't always brush the sheet and sometimes just use parchment paper.  

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda into a bowl.  Make a well in the center and pour in most of the buttermilk.  Mix well, first with a wooden spoon and then with your hands.  The dough should be very soft but not too wet.  If necessary, add the remaining buttermilk.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly and briefly.  Shape into an 8-inch round.  Put the loaf onto the prepared baking sheet and cut a cross in the top with a sharp knife.  

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool slightly.  

Serve warm, we like it with Irish butter.

*I originally found this recipe in an Irish Pub Cooking cookbook.  It holds many great recipes.

Pancakes

I have been living off of pancakes since I was born.  They are one of the best foods in the world.  Comforting and delicious.  Thank you to my grandparents for introducing this important food into my existence.  As I entered adulthood I would make pancakes because they were a cheap staple on my grocery list.  I would purchase various brands of pancake mix sold in the breakfast aisle and cook them in a non-stick skillet, using Pam because that was just handy.  But truth be told the absolute best pancakes are made from Bisquick and cooked the traditional way in a cast-iron skillet with oil, thus getting crispy edges.  The cast-iron skillet and oil is the only way that my Gramma makes pancakes to this day.  In fact, I am not sure that she even owns a non-stick skillet.

To make them a little healthier I choose to use corn oil for cooking.  When mixing the ingredients I put in extra milk than what the recipe calls for because Bisquick makes a very thick batter.  Then I top them with a pat of real butter and Log Cabin Syrup.  

Bisquick Pancake from Betty Crocker:

2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Enjoy!!

Sometimes I make half of the batter because it is only the two of us, other times I make the entire batch and put them in the fridge for the next day. 

Vintage Hostess Twinkies Recipe

I just found this recipe card in my recipe stash.  I must have obtained this when I was in high school as that was when I very first started my collection, during Interior Design class.  For all those out there who are holding on to their very last Hostess Twinkies here is a recipe for you.  Please enjoy your last bites.  I have never been one to like Hostess products but now that they are bankrupt I do hanker for a ding dong (frozen of course).  Guess I will have to eat a Frosty Delight from Aldi's, which we haven't had since high school!  Sticking with the theme!