Tasty Treats

I have never heard of Tastykakes until I read Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

So, I was in Walmart and saw these, and of course,

had to have them!

Unfortunately, these are just a little too sweet for my taste.

Although, I do not think that Stephanie Plum eats sugar-free!

Fischer & Wieser

Back in December, I posted about the Pomegranate Mango Chipotle sauce..

Well, I am so excited.

 I received an email from Fischer and Wieser.

They read my blog (wow) and offered to send me samples

All I had to do is go to their website -www.jelly.com and choose at least 3 of their sauces or jellies

(isn't that the cutest name for a website.. how lucky that they were able to get that domain name!)

Of course, it was so hard to just choose 3!

So...

I chose 4!

They arrived just in time for Christmas. 

So far,

 I've served the Four Star Black Raspberry Chipotle Sauce over cream cheese.

It's delicious, of course

I have used the Mango Ginger Habanero before to marinate chicken breast for fajitas.

It's awesome!

I have several ideas for the Jalapeno Peach Preserves that do not include cream cheese.

Like PW's biscuits from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook.

OR

 jalapeno cornbread - cooked in a loaf pan, sliced and warmed up on a griddle of butter..

(I saw a variation of  this on Diners, Drive-In and Dives!)

They also included recipe cards that I can't wait to try.

My aunt was asking where she could find them.  She lives in Fredericksburg so I sent her to the Fredericksburg winery. 

Feeling a little stupid because this company is

IN FREDERICKSBURG....

DUH!

You do not have to go to Fredericksburg to purchase these products.
Just go to the cute website I mentioned above, and there is a Store Locator. 
I've seen them here locally in Dallas at various grocery stores that I shop at.
Please try them.. you will not be disappointed. 
You do not have to be a gourmet chef. Most of the sauces are awesome poured over a block of cream cheese.

Rachael Ray's Zucchini Spaghetti with Saffron Sauce

The STAR ingredient of this dish.

Just a pinch (or 2 in the case) will do ya !

This was my first time to cook with Saffron.

I bought it at the Penzey's Spice store off Preston/LBJ in Dallas.

(I love that store)

Zucchini makes this dish healthy...

6 tablespoons of butter do not... **sigh***

Cooking the zucchini in EVOO

Melting the butter in the serving dish before adding the pasta, saffron sauce and zucchini

This dish warmed in my oven on 170 degrees

(this is the lowest temperature for my oven)

No I-talian dish is complete without

freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano

Zucchini Spaghetti with Saffron, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Butter and EVOO

It's a very light tasty pasta.

The zucchini was very flavorful!

Click here to go to Rachael's site for the recipe.

City Boy, Country Living

Isn't he cute in the "mud" boots?

They aren't his...

mud is not his thing...

he's a Gap Guy

but

he's a Good Guy

helping his Grandpa...

... move this big A.. bay window

to that small barn

through that mud

Now, you might be thinking...

my, that sure is a purty winder to be putting in a barn..

and you are right..

it's a $4000 bay window that my stepmom bought from Home Depot for

$300

yes... $300

It was a special "order" that was "ordered" in the wrong color

So Home Depot was stuck with it

They tried to sell it for $1500

Then when no one would buy it

They called her and took her offer!

Just goes to show that "bargain" shopping pays!
Especially if you need a bay window in your barn!

P.S.  The bay window is NOT for the barn. It's for their house ... some day... when she expands... some day...

French Proverb

I took this picture last year when I visited Fredericksburg, TX.

There is this lovely herb farm - click here to check it out.

Not sure if I necessarily AGREE with it

but

I love wine

and

I love bread

so maybe

there

just might be

something to it!

Cowboys, Chili and 'skins

The Cowboys beat the Eagles during the Wildcard game on Saturday.

They beat them 3 times this year.

It's so exciting!

Anyway, I opened the test kitchen trying out PW (Pioneer Woman's) Chili and Potato Skins.

My friend, Yvette and her husband came over to try the new grub, drink a few beers and watch the 'boys beat the Eagles.

First, I made "chili" bowls.  I used Pillsbury Grand Biscuits.

Sprayed the back of a muffin pan with PAM, and molded them around the cups.

Wa- LA!

Chili in a bowl!

This recipe is from PW's cookbook - "Simple. Perfect Chili" page 82.

Now I followed PW's recipe to a "T"

except

instead of using 2 lbs of ground beef

I used 1 lb of ground turkey and 1 lb of lean ground beef

(trying to save calories for the Potato Skins)

Again, this is from PW's cookbook - "PW's Potato Skins" page 22.

Since there were only 3 of us, I cooked 5 potatoes instead of 8.

I then cut them in half.

Takes me back to Bennigans - 1984.

If you do not have PW's cookbook, then you need to get a copy right away.
It's at all the local book stores, Walmart, and http://www.amazon.com/

   I grew up eating fast food and microwave dinners after my stepmom passed away in 1980.  I had a good friend, who's mom had died when she was young. Our way to get a home cooked meal was to go to Luby's Cafeteria. 
This cookbook brings the basics to 2010.  I love trying all the classic recipes. I haven't been disappointed yet.

Golden Star White Jasmine Sparkling Tea

Has anyone tried it? I read about in Body and Soul Magazine.  Looks cool.

I checked out the website

Looks like Whole Foods sells it, but not in Texas yet.

You can order online, but due to freezing weather conditions, they are not shipping any at this time.

but

I am on a mission..

I will find some

and

I will let you know how cool it is

The Pioneer Woman Book Signing

Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009 - 6pm.

My very first book signing!

Ree Drummond, who has a blog called "The Pioneer Woman" -

is signing her new book

"The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

@ Borders Bookstore

off Preston and Royal.

This is me waiting. She is to appear at 7pm.

There wasn't even a line or anything when I purchased the book and received my bracelet.

So, how naive of me to think that this might take a hour or maybe 2 tops!

See Ree? Can't you see her? She's standing there with her hand's together - in black..

I know.. I need a new phone.. iPhone does NOT have zoom.

This is a lovely cookbook. She has a great sense of humor, and takes fabulous pictures.

... this is the reward.. which I am glad.

I didn't take a picture with her because I was looking like a soggy dog by midnight.

Boy, did I learn lessons...

Lesson #1: Call the bookstore and find out the specifics.  In this case, they were giving out bracelets early in the day - which was the way to go, because by the time I got there at 6pm and got my bracelet, I was #400. No wonder there wasn't a line.   There were 800 people in line to get their book signed.  I got my signed at midnight, and there were people there until 1:30 in the morning.

Lesson #2 :  Be prepared to wait and wait and wait.  Dress comfortably, bring snacks.. and make sure you bring someone with you that is equally as interested.  (I brought my co-worker since we commute together.  She had never heard of the Pioneer Woman - but figured it's a book store and she'd find stuff to do - again with the mindset that it'd be 2 hours MAX.. not 6 !!! )

Bundt Trifecta

For Christmas, I decided to bake 3 bundt cakes using my 3 different bundt pans.

I was going for a "hat trick" which means completing the same thing 3 times successfully (for example in hockey, if the same person scores 3 times in the same game, it's a hat trick), but ended up with a "trifecta" which means I predicted (successfully - based on my experience cooking with these pans) the order of success these cakes turned out!

Let's start with 1st Place

I love this pan. It's a Martha Stewart that I bought at K-mart like a million years ago.

Here is the "Apricot-Lemon Cake" with a lemon glaze and frosted cranberries that I made. It was the favorite amongst all my dinner guests.

Apricot-Lemon Cake Recipe
Ingredients
1 lemon cake mix
1 cup apricot nectar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs

Glaze
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 lemon

Directions
Beat ingredients in a bowl for 4 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool.
Mix powdered sugar and lemon together
Pour over cooled cake

2nd Place

A friend gave me this pan recently.

I used Homemade Gourmet's "Grandmother's Great Gingerbread" mix with cinnamon glaze.

3rd Place

This is a traditional (and cheap) bundt pan.

It's hit or miss every time.

I'm not sure how long I've had  it or where I even got it.

By the time I got to this cake, I was in a hurry, and didn't allow it to cool down enough

resulting in this...

OOPS... maybe I didn't let it cool

Winter Grilling

So I have had this small "George Foreman Grill for One" for about 4 years now.

I bought it when I lived in a small condo, and didn't have room to store anything.

Surprising, I've used it more than I expected.

It does pretty good chicken

and

AWESOME

Panini's!

I got this big daddy grill for Christmas.

Ok.. maybe it's not Big DADDY

but it is to me!

It comes with removable plates.. much easier than my little one to clean.

Now my 2010 goal is to actually get a real outdoor gas grill.

For some reason, I'm scared I'm going to catch the neighborhood on fire...

but it's a fear I plan on conquering this year.

Cupcake Cake Pan

I usually post my baking success stories..

but...

this

isn't of them

My nieces are 5 & 7, so I thought this would be the perfect cake for our belated Christmas Celebration this past Saturday.

 Look how adorable these cakes are!

(Am I the best aunt ever or what?)

Oh

my

GAH!

(***heavy sigh***)

Ok.. so..

HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU FROST THIS THING?

First, I trimmed both layers so that they laid flat on each other

I tried "piping" the frosting on the top spiral layer...

that was goopy and messy.

Basically, there is not a picture of the finished product because when it was done,

it was hideous... edible but not pretty anymore...

I gave the pan to my sister-in-law!