Pie Time!

It's been a rainy, yucky day today. When I picked LO up from school, she asked what fun stuff we were going to do today. Obviously with the rain we weren't going to be able to hit up the playground across the street, and much to her dismay, we had no scheduled plans to see Gramma, PaPa or Mona, so she was royally bummed to hear that we were just gonna head home -- just her, Chase and I.

After lunch, I asked her if she'd like to help me make an apple pie. She was totally stoked with the idea, and started peeling the apples while I made the dough for the crust. I tried my best to let her do everything, even though it meant things would get pretty messy. She had a ball! And she's so good at helping! She really enjoyed herself, and we have an amazing pie to show for it!

Here's a little clip of her helping me slice the apples, with Chase as her helpful assistant. They had so much fun together -- it was awesome!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This pie was created for consumption by our family only. No way would I let this sort of "help" happen when making a dessert to share with people outside of our little family of 4. ;)

Here's the finished product! Not too shabby, LO! :)

Healthy Bites: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are BY FAR the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies on the planet! They are soft, moist, chewy and incredibly delicious! And the bet part is they are healthy! There's only 2 Tbsp. of butter in the entire recipe! I know, right?!

Seriously. These things are the best. They keep for days, assuming they last that long. My kids loved them. Hubs loved them. I loved them. But keep in mind they are only "healthy" if you avoid eating half a dozen in one sitting, which -- believe me -- isn't as easy as it sounds.

Enjoy!

Photo from www.davidlebovitz.com

Photo from www.davidlebovitz.com

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

About 36 cookies
Adapted from Nick Malgieri’s book, Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs (HarperCollins).
 
Ingredients:

1 cup flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 cup dark raisins (or dried cranberries)
2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, foil, or silicone mats

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
5. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they “look dull on the surface but are moist and soft,” according to Nick. Rotate baking sheets during baking for even heating.

(I made mine bigger, so whatever size you make them, just bake them until they look as directed by Nick.)

Storage: Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

New Family Member!!!

Yes, folks, it's true.

After weeks of deliberation and internal discussions/arguments with myself, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered this bad boy:

Only $3.99 for overnight shipping, thanks to Amazon Mom (if you're not a member of Amazon mom, you should be!). This beut will be arriving tomorrow.

And it's mine!

All mine!!!

I've got two birthday cakes coming up in the next few weeks, so I figured now is as good a time as any to go ahead and add this little guy to our family.

((swoon))

It's Time

I've decided it's time. It's time for a major upheaval in our household. Time for change. A BIG change. I've loved a dear member of our household for many, many years. But it's time for him to go. Time for an upgrade. A bigger and better, newer model. It hurts me to admit it, but I'm afraid the time is here. Well, I guess technically it will be here once I can afford it. But in the meantime, I'll practice my good-byes to my dear, sweet 250-watt, 4 1/2-Quart KitchenAid who has served me so very well over the past 10-ish years, and eventually invite a new member to join our family. The KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart stand mixer.

So, to recap:

Before...

After...

((My heart skips a beat each time I so much as look at the beauty of the image above. Swoon!))

THE Pie

I made this last Thursday. And again Sunday night. It's hubs' favorite -- for good reason. And I only got this one picture of it before putting it in the oven. It disappeared too quickly afterward to get an "after" pic.

I'm pretty sure there's a good chance I'll be making it again on Thursday for Thanksgiving, along with this Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. Yum.

Good Stuff

If you're looking for a tasty way to welcome the cooler weather, I'd recommend these cookies. They're cake-like, not too sweet and topped with a nice brown sugar glaze.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin
1 medium egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing:
1/2 cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon of vanilla


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Prepare the cookies: Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add pumpkin and egg and beat well.

3. In a separate large bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients. Add to pumpkin mixture, beating to blend.

4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and flatten into cookie shapes. Place on parchment-covered backing sheet and bake until light golden, 9 to 11 minutes. Remove and cool.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the icing: Combine brown sugar, milk, and butter in a small saucepan; bring to a boil and remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and vanilla until smooth.

6. When cookies are slightly cooled, generously glaze the icing over the tops and allow to cool completely before serving.

Sugar Cookies

I've been looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe, and seem to keep striking out. So I decided to take a recipe and modify it to turn it into what I've been looking for (hopefully). And as it turns out, these are the epitome of the sugar cookie you would pay good money for at your favorite bakery. Yum!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (I refrigerated the dough overnight).
3. Place a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar, or flatten with a potato masher as I did. Sprinkle with additional sugar.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are set. Do not let them brown! If you use a baking stone, the cookies will finish baking after removing the stone from the oven. Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Homemade Strawberry Cupcakes

Tuesday afternoon, I decided LO and I were going to make some cupcakes to celebrate another successful day of preschool. So no, it doesn't take much for me to find a reason to celebrate with cake... ;) But rather than go buy a boxed cake mix (the horror!), I turned to my friend -- the trusty Internet -- and found a recipe for a strawberry cake made from scratch. No cake mixes, no colored/flavored gelatin -- just fresh strawberries, some butter, oil, sugar, flour etc. LO and I made them together and it was fun!

The cupcakes are topped with a cream cheese frosting, which definitely isn't my favorite, but I had all the ingredients on hand so we went for it.


In my opinion, the cupcakes turned out a bit more "dense" than I'm used to. I prefer something lighter, and these seemed quite heavy. But it was extra nice making them from scratch and being able to recognize (and pronounce!) all the ingredients we used.

Did LO like the cupcakes? Judge for yourselves... ;)

Food Processor Help

So this is totally random, but I wanted to ask my readers a few questions about food processors. First of all, if you don't use one or don't know what one is, just quit reading now. However, if you have one and know how to use it, keep reading.

I bought a brand new KitchenAid 9-cup food processor last Saturday for ONE purpose: making homemade whole-wheat pizza dough. We were having friends over for dinner (to make pizzas) and I needed to make at least two batches of dough. The 3-cup capacity food processor that came with my blender/food processor combo unit was NOT overly suitable to make this dough, and certainly not a double batch of it. While I knew I wanted it specifically for the dough, I also knew that it would come in handy for several other recipes, especially the more I try to get away from processed foods and make more from scratch.

I was totally stoked to put it to use once I got it home and all washed up. I had my King Aurthur white whole-wheat flour, yeast packet, salt, olive oil and water ready to go. With this particular pizza dough recipe, you're supposed to pulse the water, yeast, salt and oil together. I followed the instructions and did so. I immediately noticed the water seeped out of the bowl where the lid and bowl meet when I turned the unit on. I guess it made sense that it's not a tight seal, and it would be possible for the water to leak there. I figured the mixture was pulsed enough, and went ahead and added the 3 cups of my expensive $9 bag of flour and turned the food processor on. Almost immediately, I noticed the huge, wet mess all over my counter. Apparently the water was ALSO leaking out the BOTTOM of the bowl in the middle where the blade attachment sits. So it poured all over the base unit and all over my counter.

Of course this batch of dough was completely ruined, as the yeast was dissolved into the water, which was now located all over my counter and I knew there was no way to salvage it. I was irritated. No way in the world did I expect this to happen! Can you imagine if I would've tried to double the batch from the beginning? Ugh!

After lots of reading through the instruction guide, I determined I had in fact put the pieces together correctly. Unfortunately, I then found this page:
A maximum liquid level?? I had no idea! To make matters worse, ONE cup of water actually sits above this maximum liquid level indicator. How many recipes call for less than 1 cup of liquid? When using a NINE-CUP capacity food processor??

This makes NO sense to me!

I'll be honest, this is the first time I've owned or operated a food processor. I'm new to the game. But is this common? Should I expect ALL food processors to leak if I use more than 1/2-cup of liquid in a recipe? This seems totally insane to me. Not to mention the fact that this bad boy set me back $150! I would imagine the cheaper ones to have this problem, but not this one and not a KitchenAid!

Help!!!

Cookie Day

In my ongoing attempt to occupy myself during these last few weeks before Chase's arrival, I've decided to turn into Betty Crocker. Or Martha Stewart. Or whoever you equate with a bake-a-holic. So I've deemed today my own personal "Cookie Day." I am working with three recipes, one of which I've tested previously and absolutely fell in love with! All of these recipes are from Smitten Kitchen -- a foodie blog I highly recommend to anyone who knows their way around the kitchen... and even those that don't!

The first step in celebrating Cookie Day was, of course, to clean my kitchen OCD-style. Check!!

The recipe I've made previously and loved was Peanut Butter Cookies. These things are to die for! They come out so soft and chewy -- absolutely fool-proof and delicious! You can substitute anything for the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. I've used all chocolate chips and even M&Ms with great success! This is now my one and only peanut butter cookie recipe.


One of the new recipes I'm planning to try is Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. These look delish! I've always been a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies because somehow I've convinced myself that these cookies are "healthy" -- what with the raisins and oatmeal... right?? Right??!


My next new recipe test is for Snickerdoodles. I don't think you can do snickerdoodles wrong, unless of course they come out like crunchy little coasters. I'm a fan of the thick, chewy cookie -- if I wanted something crunchy, I'd grab a cracker! So I'm really hopeful these come out as wonderful as they look!

* All images from Smitten Kitchen. *

In case you're curious as to what in the world I'm planning to do with a zillion dozen cookies, no, I'm not planning to eat them all myself. One of my bestest friends on the planet had a baby last week and I'm planning to take her an assortment of these fresh-baked goodies. Then, of course, I'll probably send some with hubs to take to work. As for the rest of them? Well, I guess they're up for grabs! Lemme know if you're interested! :)

Elmo Cake

Okay, so for LO's birthday, I've pretty much decided I AM going to make her cake. See, I love to bake and decorate cakes, and I'm all about putting in the effort required (and there is a LOT required) to make something spectacular for a big event like my daughter's birthday. Now, I'm ready for some inspiration.

I've been looking online for a great idea that I can duplicate myself. But, whoa is me! You would not believe the cakes I've found out there! Check these out...

People, there is nothing that says, "A professional did NOT make this cake" like using (and writing on) foil as the base. I'm pretty sure there's a cookie sheet under there.


I don't have words for this one. It's like someone skinned Elmo and this is what was left. No fur for you!!


This close-up is just too close for my taste. Such an interesting texture for this Elmo, yes? At least he's a bit more proportioned than our skinned Elmo friend above with his big ol' orange nose. But again, with the foil?? Come on.

This one probably scares me the most. The blue tint used to outline Elmo? Why? And the writing leaves a bit to be desired. I know I specifically requested there NOT be cursive writing on my daughter's 1st birthday cake. Not that she could read it any better than printing, but I guess it was just principle.

So I guess I'm back to the drawing board. I want to make a cake that includes Elmo on it, but isn't made 100% of nasty red icing. I also wouldn't mind incorporating some elements from "Elmo's World" (like crayons, Dorothy the fish, etc.) since that's where LO's love of Elmo began. I'll continue to scour the Internet for inspiration and will be sure to share any other disasters I may come across for your viewing enjoyment.

V-Day Bling!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We had a very special day, consisting of a big 'ol breakfast I made from scratch:


lots of gift-opening for LO:


a dessert that ended up taking all stinkin' day to create (even though I had a GREAT helper!):


some lasagna for dinner (forgot a pic -- sorry!)

and of course I can't forget the beautiful flowers hubs gave me, and now the latest trinket of his affection...

Isn't it gorgeous? It's a Heart-Tag Bracelet in Sterling Silver from my favorite jewelry shop, Blue Nile. It has LO's initials engraved on it and I absolutely LOVE IT! LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!!!

We had a most wonderful day and I'm so very blessed to have hubs and LO in my life!!!

Sugar Cookies--Round 2!

As some of you may know, I've been looking for a new sugar cookie recipe to use for Christmas cookies this holiday season. I attempted the Martha Stewart recipe, but it just didn't work as well as I'd hoped. So now I'm on to round 2!

I came across this recipe--aptly titled The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies--and these came out MUCH better! I didn't bother to take a bunch of pictures 'cause I figure most of you probably don't care for the step-by-step details. But I will say this dough was MUCH easier to work with, and although the cookies spread a bit while baking, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Martha Stewart recipe.

So give this one a try if you're looking for a yummy sugar cookie recipe! I'm certain you won't be disappointed!

THE BEST ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Feel free to frost these bad boys with your favorite icing and decorate with whatever candies you have on hand!

Sugar Cookies, Martha Style!

Blame it on my Evergreen and Cinnamon Yankee candles, but this blogger has caught the holiday spirit like you would not believe! There's something about my home smelling of Christmas trees and cinnamon that makes me want to rip out the holiday decorations from the attic, hang some lights outside and get some yummy sugar cookies baking in the oven! But then immediately I'm struck with the revelation that I have yet to find the perfect sugar cookie recipe to use for my Christmas cookies! So I turned to our trusty friend--the Internet--and found a recipe for Martha Stewart's sugar cookies. I figured what better time to give this recipe a try than as a lazy afternoon bake-fest with my daughter!

I've posted the recipe below, including pictures of my baking experience. I will admit that this dough wasn't super-easy to work with. The cookies ended up spreading a lot during baking, which left me with big ol' blobs instead of cute little leaves and turkeys.

Martha's Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons brandy, or milk (what the huh?? brandy?? really?! I went w/ the milk instead)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies, optional

DIRECTIONS

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



2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar.



3. Add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated.



4. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk for us non-boozehounds), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.



5. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.


7. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. At least, that's what Martha's recipe says. I choose to roll my sugar cookie dough on a surface dusted with confectioners sugar. It tends to make the cookies less hard/dry.
   



8. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. I have to admit here that I didn't have any parchment paper, and I wasn't sure waxed paper was the same... So I used a regular cookie sheet but didn't think to lightly grease it first. The lesson here is to use some Pam if you don't have any parchment paper!
   



9. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool. (Note the excessive amount of spreading during baking. Not sure how to avoid this.)
   



10. Decorate with Royal Icing, optional. To make this simple icing recipe, just mix 1 pound of confectioners sugar with 2 Tbsp. meringue powder (or 2 egg whites), then add about 1/2 cup of water.
    

Makes 2 dozen

Bottom line? These cookies were pretty tasty. Eating the dough was my favorite part! But ultimately working with the dough was not so easy. And the fact that the cookies puffed up so much during baking, quite frustrating! I think I'll continue to look for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. LO and I have a lot more baking to do during the holidays!

Chocolate Chip Goodness

Hellloooooo out there!!!!

I'm SO sorry it's been over a week since I've posted out here! I just don't know what my problem is! Of course I haven't been busy or anything... (wink, wink)

Ya, I've been a bit busy lately, but I'M BACK!! I know all three of my blog readers are jumping with excitement at the very thought of reading all about my fun and obstreperous life! :)

So I figured what way to get back into blogging could be any better than posting one of my newest, favoritest recipes!? Chocolate Chip Pie! Several of you know I've been baking these pies like a crazy-person lately--so many in fact that they are concerned I need a "pie intervention!" It just so happens my husband is completely hooked on them. And a few friends think they are simply amazing! And I can definitely eat them, too!

I originally got a recipe from a friend of mine whose family makes these pies for just about every holiday (which, I believe might be a new tradition in my house as well!). Although that recipe was good, I found one that was a bit better because it came out a bit more "firm" and ultimately didn't use quite as much butter. That ought to make it healthier, too, right? Right?? ;)

Anywho, I made yet another pie last night to celebrate my mom selling her house, and I took a few pics of the process so you all could see how yummy and EASY this pie is! So without further ado...

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Pie

Estimated Times:
Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 55 min | Cooling Time - 15 min cooling | Yields - 8

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional -- I leave them out!)
  

Directions:

1. PREHEAT oven to 325° F.


2. PREPARE pie shell. If using a frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly. If using refrigerated pie dough, let it thaw for 15 minutes then unroll into pie pan.
   
   


3. BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy.
   
   
   
4. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts.
   
   


5. Spoon into pie shell.
   
   
   
6. BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean.
   
   


7. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm! Feel free to serve a la mode!
   
   
   

This is a super-yummy, very rich and chocolatey pie. I serve with a chilled glass of milk and It. Is. Heaven.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Time!

It's been a busy few days around here! Saturday we spent the day at a local pumpkin farm and LO just loved it! She picked out her very own pumpkin, went on a hay ride and got to ride a little cow train! It was so much fun!






Saturday night we joined the billion other residents in our county at a downtown event. It was C-R-A-Z-Y!! There were people everywhere!!! We barreled through the crowds, enjoyed some food and spent time with a few friends, then headed HOME! LO enjoyed some mini Oreo cookies, hence her chocolate-y face.


Sunday evening we capped off our busy weekend with a surprise party I helped plan for our beloved music minister at the church. It was incredible! We had a great turnout, a ton of "potluck" food, and the best part--we actually seemed to pull of an actual surprise! Woot! Since our music pastor is a H-U-G-E Apple fanatic, we had an iPhone cake made for him. It came out really cute! And we asked all of the guests to wear black shirts, which we put a white Apple logo sticker on. It was a room full of "mock" Apple geniuses! Too awesome!


Of course today is hubs' birthday, and he decided to take the day off! Sweet! We pretty much hung out all day like it was the weekend. I cooked some cheesy stuffed shells for dinner, we bought a patio firepit for hubs so we can have some s'mores fun once the weather gets a bit cooler and we will be enjoying some chocolate chip pie a la mode in just a few minutes! Over all I think it's been a good day for big ol' daddy!