Some pictures of my first go at Star Wars cookies (taken with our little Sony – my fancy camera was out of commission):

May the force be with you!

A couple of weeks ago, Meijer was selling five pounds of strawberries for five dollars and I couldn’t resist such a great deal.  I froze most of them for smoothies, but I decided to use some of them for something I’ve heard of but never have tried – Strawberry Soup.

Don’t let the name fool you.  Strawberry Soup is a dessert and a very elegant (but simple and easy) one!  It’s like a smoothie, but richer and creamier.  All you need is a one-pound container of fresh strawberries, and a few other items – light corn syrup, sugar, plain unsweetened yogurt , milk,  lemon juice, and whipped cream. 

Start by halving the strawberries, or quartering them if they are especially gigantic.

Toss them with 1/4 cup of light corn syrup and put them on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 300 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the syrup is thick. 

Let cool, and place them in your food processor (a blender will probably work if you don’t have a processor) and process until pureed.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of  plain yogurt, 1/2 to 1 cup of milk ( I used skim milk), and 1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice.  Processs until combined.

Ladle into some pretty bowls or glasses and chill until ready to serve.  Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipe by Joy of Baking.

If I could time-travel back four years to the summer that Funnel and I were in the midst of planning our wedding, I would have registered there.   It’s a baking-enthusiast’s dream.

Here’s what I am currently lusting after:

{ Lattice Pocket Pie Mold }

{ Apple Picket Pie Mold }

{ Star Wars Cookie Cutters }

{ Star Wars Pancake Mold }

{ Message in a Cookie Cutter }

{ Sandwich Cookie Cake Mold }

{ Calzone Mold }

{ Cookie Press }

Next time I am at Easton, I’m going to stop by and snag a couple of things… I’m really eyeing the Lattice Pocket Pie Mold and Apple Pocket Pie Mold.

Here are the cast of characters:

Start by boiling some chicken breast, and while they’re going, chop up your onion and jalapeno and shred your pepper jack cheese:

After the chicken is done cooking, shred it and reserve some of the chicken broth:

Sautee your onion and jalapeno, and then add your shredded chicken, canned chillies and paprika.   Add some of your chicken broth and cream and you will have this yummy enchilada filling:

Next up, make your queso sauce, which you will pour over the enchiladas.  In a medium pan, make a roux, and then add the rest of the chicken broth and chillies.  Then add the sour cream, pepper jack cheese and paprika.  The sauce is heaven.  I could just go at it with a bag of tortilla chips and just have that for dinner. 

Next we’ll assemble the tortillas, and place them seam side down in the baking dish:

And pour the sauce on top:

And add more cheese.  They are ready to bake!:

Here they are after baking in the oven 30 minutes:

I would say they were a success. 

Here’s the recipe, which I halved, and didn’t quite follow.  I used flour tortillas instead of corn, and I didn’t feel it was neccessary to fry the tortillas (this recipe is fattening enough as it is). 

White Chicken Enchiladas

• 2-½ cups Cooked, Shredded Chicken
• 2 cups Reserved Broth From Chicken
• 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 12 whole Corn Tortillas
• 1 whole Large Onion, Diced
• 3 whole 4 Oz Cans Whole Green Chilies, Diced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Seeded And Finely Diced
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2-½ cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Picante Sauce (optional)
• Cilantro, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortillas for no longer than 20 seconds, just to soften (do not allow to become crisp.) Place tortillas on a large towel or stack of paper towels to drain.

Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in separate skillet over medium heat. Add onions and jalapenos and saute for 1 minute, just to start the cooking process. Add chicken, half of the green chilies, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Stir together. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and stir. Add cream and stir, allowing mixture to bubble and get hot. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a separate large skillet, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together and cook over medium heat for one minute. Pour in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth. Whisk together and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the other half of the chilies. Reduce heat, then stir in sour cream. Add 1 1/2 cups grated cheese and stir to melt. Add 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

To assemble, spoon chicken mixture on top of tortillas, one by one. Top with plenty of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Pour cheese mixture all over the top of the tortillas. Top with extra cheese if you’d like, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle generously with chopped cilantro.

If you have any favorite go-to dinner recipes, I would love to try them!

For the past… I don’t know… 3 years, I have been on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  I’ve tried everything: the recipe on the back of the Toll House Chocolate Chip bag, my trusty Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, all my favorite cooking blogs.  And I finally found one to be my go-to recipe.

This recipe is different from other chocolate chip cookie recipes, in that it uses melted butter.   I think that’s the key to it’s goodness.  There are a few hints from me at the bottom:

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Cook’s Illustrated)

1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whish for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use a #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

* Modifications from Me: Instead of using Chocolate Chips, I took a few squares of Semi-sweet Baker’s Chocolate and chunked it up.    Also, I’ve found that if you refrigerate the dough for a couple of days, they’re even better.  I think it gives the ingredients some time to mesh together.

If you have a favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I’d love to try it.  I’m still open to the idea that there is a recipe floating around out there that is even better than this one.

Another things is that in a few years, when Funnel and I are parents, we’re planning on living on one income so that I can be a stay-at-home mom.  We’ve been trying to practice this as much as possible now and live below our means so when that day comes, it won’t be a huge lifestyle adjustment. 

The thing that overwhelms me the most in my weekly to-do list is grocery shopping.  Even without trying to be frugal, grocery shopping is a challenge!  I think it’s hard to plan meals that are healthy, taste good and fun to make, and most of all, share common ingredients with one another so that I have less to buy and don’t have a lot of random left-over stuff.    Then when you add the saving-money factor, it’s even more overwhelming!

But I really want to work towards saving significant money in this area.  I know some super-women who clip coupons, only buy things that are on sale (even if it means visiting multiple stores to complete their shopping), can their own veggies and fruits, make and freeze meals ahead of time in bulk, and spend probably half of what I do on my weekly grocery bill (and their families are double the size of mine!)  It requires a lot of planning, extra time, and commitment, but I’m hoping to makes some small steps in this area.  My goal for the next year is to slowly implement some steps for saving money in my grocery shopping, and hopefully soon it will be second nature!

A couple of things I am doing now:

1.  Making a big batch of soup on Sundays to use in our lunches the following week.  The first week I made black bean soup with a bag of dried beans I had on hand, last week I made beef vegetable soup, and this week I am making a vegetarian 16-bean soup.  I’ve made the soup in my crock-pot on Sundays, then divided it up into Tupperware containers for our lunches during the week.  Funnel isn’t a soup person, but he’s really liked the soups I’ve made so far.  Dried beans are dirt cheap, and before,when we packed in the mornings before work, it was a common occurrence to be running late, not have time to make sandwiches and end up spending $5 or $6 to eat out.  A week’s worth of  soup costs less than that!  And the crock pot is so easy – you just dump all the ingredients in and let it do it’s thing!

(( the beans for my 16-bean soup.  Aren’t they pretty? ))

2.  Avoiding “convenience foods”.  This week on a radio program I was listening to, they had a guest talking about how to save money at the grocery store.  Her biggest tip was to avoid convenience foods – anything pre-cut, pre-washed, pre-cooked, pre-mixed.  I didn’t think this tip applied to me because I usually make my food from scratch, but then as she went on,  I realized how many things in my pantry and refrigerator were convenience foods: pancake mix, individually packaged applesauces, flavored oatmeal packets, bagged lettuce, rice & black bean mix… and I could go on.  She said you spend 4 to 5 times as much on convenience foods than if you prepared it yourself.  Yesterday, I didn’t buy any convenience foods at my weekly shopping trip! 

I’m going to slowly start doing more and more things to save money and I thought it might be helpful to blog about this ongoing journey of cutting expenses, because I’m sure other people would like to work on this too!

What are your best tips for saving money on food?  I would love to hear them!

My first attempt failed because I wasn’t careful and got a little bit of egg yolk into the mix, so the batter never got fluffy.

My second attempt was alright, but they got burnt, even though I baked them for the time and temperature specified! ((I guess I’m still getting to know my oven.))

The third try was a success, but I didn’t have enough almond flour left to make a double batch, which was what I was shooting for.  Oh well. 

Here’s the recipe:

Parisian Macroons

- 1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground sliced, blanched almonds
- 6 tablespoons fresh egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Macaroon Filling

1. To make the macaroons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners’ sugar mixture until completely incorporated.

2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little. Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macaroons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 15 minutes.

3. Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macaroons is completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macaroons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macaroons from the parchment. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

4.To fill the macaroons: Fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macaroons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich these with the remaining macaroons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

5.Variations: To make coffee-flavored macaroons: In step 1, add 2 drops brown food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, blend 1/2 cup macaroon filling with 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon warm water for the filling. To make cassis-flavored macaroons: In step 1, add 2 drops purple food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, use 1/3 cup good-quality cassis jam for the filling. To make pistachio-flavored macaroons: In step 1, add 2 drops green food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, combine 1/2 cup macaroon filling with 1 tablespoon pistachio paste for the filling.

I found a recipe for the Strawberry Cream here.

Strawberry Cream

- 4 ounces softened cream cheese
- 3 Tablespoons softened butter
- 1 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup strained strawberry preserves.

Mix butter and cream cheese at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, sift in confectioners’ sugar, add vanilla extract and preserves, and blend until smooth.

Since I was so frustrated with my failed attempts to make this lovely dessert, I don’t have any pictures of the process, but here is the result:

I’ll definitely be making these again, now that I’ve gotten the hang of it.

Raspberry Brie Bites

- 1 package of fresh raspberries
- 10 oz. of brie cheese
- 2 packages of Fillo mini shells (found in the freezer section)

Fill each Fillo shell 3/4 full with brie cheese and put a raspberry on top.  Bake at 350 until Brie is melted.  Serve warm, if possible.

* I couldn’t find regular Brie cheese at my grocery store, so I had to buy a spredable Brie, and was pretty dissapointed with the flavor and consistency.   If at all possible, use the real Brie – it tastes much better. 

You start by baking a cake, homemade or from scratch.  I had a box of vanilla cake mix that had been on the shelf for awhile so I made that.

Next, is an extremely fun part of the process: You mash up the cake.  I used a fork and spent a good five minutes going at it, until it was very fine.   

Now, grab a can of cream cheese frosting (or make your own) and incoroprate that into the crumbled cake, using the back of a spoon.  It will be a pretty sticky substance, that reminded me of cookie dough.     Then, roll the cake into 1 1/2 inch balls and set on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  Stick them in the freezer for ten minutes.

Remove the balls from the freezer and make them into their cupcake shape, by rolling them into a slightly oval shape and sticking the bottom half through a small flower-shaped cookie cutter. 

Stick them in the freezer again, for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat up some melting chocolate over the stove or in the microwave, according to the instructions on the package.  I found that the chocolate was a little too thick, and it was much more workable once I added some shortening to it.  After taking the cucpakes out of the freezer, dip the bottoms into the chocolate.  Bakerella’s instructions say to set them  upside down on the foil, with the chocolate in the air, but I found that setting them right side up allowed the chocolate on the bottom to even out and create a better base. 

While the chocolate is drying, heat up some more chocolate of a different color.  I bought pink, green and white, and combined the green and white to make a lighter green, although I wasn’t so enthused with the outcome. 

Dip the top of the cupcake bites into the chocolate, and immediately decorate with sprinkles and a red M&M.  I’m going to suggest that you buy more M&Ms than you think you’ll need. When I opened my bag of M&Ms I was dissapointed to discover that there were twice as many of each of the other colors than there were of red.  There were 23 red M&Ms and at least 40+ of each other color.  Lame!

And here was my result:

Yields about 50 cupcake bites.