Pinterest Thursday

My Pinterest has whiplash right now...these are my pins in exact pinning order yesterday:

Bacon and Eggs in an Avocado 

Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie

Fajita Seasoning

S'mores "Crack" Dip

put a few tbsps of olive oil in a ziploc with some salt and pepper
and broccoli and shake, then spread on a cookie sheet and spread
minced garlic over it and roast at 425 deg F for 20-25 minutes!"

Oatmeal Caramel Cookie Bars

Clearly my mind (and cravings) are flip-flopping between staying disciplined on the W30 (Whole30 board) and enjoying delicious baked goods (Sweet Tooth board)...May 1 might just kill me!

Click here to follow me on Pinterest and here to see my Whole30 blog.

Buttermilk Baking

Lucy made some buttermilk cornmeal bread a few weeks back and we ended up with a bunch of buttermilk left over.  I've been trying to use it up before it goes bad so I've been baking...

First was Buttermilk apple scones...delicious!  The girls weren't too sure about them, partly because I didn't chop the apples small enough but mostly because traditional scones aren't sweet, and they aren't used to that.  I liked the scones, though they did dry out in just a day or two.



I got the recipe from this book, here it is:

I then made us buttermilk biscuits for dinner with dijon chicken...sorry, no pic, we ate them too quickly!

There was still buttermilk left over so we found Lucy a recipe for buttermilk dinner rolls and I made buttermilk banana blueberry bread.

Seriously, yum.  I had never thought about putting blueberries in my banana bread, but boy, was it delicious!

Yum!  Click here for recipe!

Food & God (Part 1)

Its no secret that I love food.  I'm not one of those "eat to live" people.  I'm more of the "live to eat" variety.  Though I've always been active and maintained a healthy weight, I've struggled with food for years.

When I was in high school Papa thought I was anorexic.   I was not.  I've never starved myself, trust me-I can hardly make it if I miss a snack.  If I've had any sort of eating disorder, it'd be compulsive overeating.  Most people don't believe me because I'm not overweight, but those who are close to me know that I often cannot control myself and binge eat.

I've been trying to get a handle on it for the past few years and at times have been successful.  Most times, I can even stay in my calorie range but the calories are sometimes made up of handfuls of chocolate covered almonds, or a bag of chips.  Sure, I love the taste and texture of chocolate covered almonds but I'm not downing them because of that.  I find some sort of fulfillment and satisfaction in eating them that I simply don't find in eating something healthier.

Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and slumber will clothe them with rags.
Proverbs 23: 20-21

For years I never had to worry about calorie count or food consumption, I was blessed with a high metabolism and have always been extremely active.  At 32, I'm at a healthy weight.  When I graduated high school I was the same height I am now and weighed almost 40 pounds less.  Sure, I was incredibly skinny and hadn't finished developing my womanly curves, but 40 pounds is not a small amount.

As I entered my mid-late 20's, I noticed that I'd gain a few pounds after a holiday weekend, or a birthday party.  I wasn't able to drop the weight in the week that followed as I'd always been able to.  When life started getting heavy, I turned to food for comfort more than ever, and it just so happened that my metabolism was slowing down.  I became consumed with fear that I'd soon become overweight so I started exercising more.  I tried to eat healthy foods and control my portion size.

I'd be able to keep up a healthy routine for a bit then the wheels would fall off.  I'd have a stressful day, my feelings would get hurt, or I'd just give in to my monthly cravings.  A bag of Doritos, or a carton of Ben & Jerry's later I was left feeling like a failure and ashamed.  Nobody listened when I said I was feeling fat because even if I gained a few, I was still at a "healthy" weight.  "Give yourself a break Linsey" they'd say..."it's ok to indulge every once in a while."

Well...I'm a black and white person.  All or nothing.  "Once in a while" isn't in my vocabulary.  I either do it ALL THE TIME of NOT AT ALL.  Most things that cause problems in life can be handled in this manner...if you're an alcoholic, you completely give up drinking.  When you realize you are addicted to nicotine, you stop smoking.  People praise you for your bold and courageous steps.  Hold your hand through the hard times and celebrate your success.

Since turning my life over to Christ, I've cut certain things out of my life.  Not because God told me to. But out of the love I have for Him, I desired to change my life to be more pleasing to Him.  To remove things that were preventing me from fully walking with Him.

For example...there is a guy who causes me to stumble.  When we are together we talk for hours but were never able to stop there.  We'd end up making out and I knew it wasn't going anywhere because 1) He doesn't love Jesus and 2) there is no 2... #1 is enough to kick someone to the curb in my book.

So...this guy and I would make out then I'd feel like crap because I knew that's not what I should be doing.  I knew that what I truly wanted was a husband, a strong Christian man who would be the spiritual leader of my family.  And making out with this guy wasn't going to help me get there.  My heart would be a mess because my God made me a relational person-I wasn't designed to have casual physical encounters with people.  I was designed to make an emotional connection with the person.  That's God's design, and time and time again I tried to fight it, to ignore it, to pretend I was some sort of cool, casual go-with-the-flow person who could handle making out with someone and be ok with not being in their actual life.

So...what does this have to do with food and my unhealthy relationship with it?  Easy, two things actually...Check bad Friday for the rest of this discussion.

Holiday Baking: The Gifts

It took me a while to figure out how I was going to package the goodies I made.  I decided on clear bags from Michael's, some cute polkadot ribbon and scrapbook paper tags.  I cut two different kinds of paper into 2" squares (I chose red and natural stripes as well as music notes) then attached them using the adorable ribbon with tiny dots.  Each tag indicating the name of the delicious treat inside.

For the banana bread, I bought a four pack of decorative cake circles with large bags--the ribbon came with it too.  Its just easier this way than trying to wrap it in plastic and ending up with a weird wad of plastic wrap because its impossible to wrap it nicely using a roll of saran wrap.

Here is the final product for the family I work for.  Every family got most of the same things, but since Phoebe has an egg and nut allergy, I had to leave a few things out.  I gave large gifts to 3 families, small ones to 6 other families, plus my mechanic, chiropractor's office and the lady who teaches the gym class I love.   The girls and I made an extra batch of s'mores bark and wrapped a few pieces for 14 different teachers, as well as attached a candy cane to each...wish I could show you a pic but my phone died and I can't access my photos.  Needless to say...I'm exhausted and very happy to be done with holiday baking!

Holiday Baking Part 4

If you're catching up, click here, here and here for the first, second and third installments...

Now, for the final recipe...the one that is a treasured family favorite.  Grandma Collier's Banana Bread. I have to admit, I've made a few slight changes but I'll post the original recipe as well as the modifications I've made.

First, I always bake it in a bundt pan.  The recipe will make two bread loaf pans but I prefer the nice crust that a bundt pan offers.  I got dance this holiday season and purchased two half size bundt pans so I'd have a more manageable size cake to give away...I didn't want to give an entire large bundt and I also didn't want to make a million batches either.  This way, one batch made two gifts!  Click here for the pans I bought.

Grandma Collier's Banana Bread (Linsey's changes)
3/4 C Shortening [you can use butter but it doesn't turn out quiet the same]
1 1/4 C Sugar (I switch the amounts and use 1 C sugar and 1 1/4 C Brown, for a richer flavor)
1 C Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
3 Bananas (I use 4, frozen and thawed or straight from the counter, doesn't matter)
1/4 C Sour Milk (since most people don't keep sour milk on hand, splash a little vinegar or lemon juice                               in the milk to sour it and let it sit while you're combining the other ingredients)
3 C Flour [I've tried whole wheat flour but its is far to dense and heavy]
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Vanilla

Preheat oven to 300, grease and flour pans.  Cream first 3 ingredients.  Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients.  Measure and "sour" milk.  Add eggs one at a time to sugars mixture, mixing (on low speed) one in completely before adding the next.  Add vanilla, and bananas one at a time.  If batter "breaks" gradually add a little of the flour mixture between banana additions.  Add milk and stir to combine.  Pour into prepared pans and bake.  45-60 minutes for small bundt pans, 60-90 minutes for large bundt pan.  Baking time depends on oven and the pans you use.  Plus, you never want to over bake this...even if its a little under baked, that's better than being over baked.  Allow to cool 20 or so minutes in pan then flip onto a wire cooling rack.  Let cool completely (will take a few hours) before wrapping, otherwise moisture and heat will be trapped making the bread soggy and will mold within a few days.  Bread may be kept on the counter as long as its completely covered...because it will be eaten before it has a chance to go bad.

Come back Friday for pics of all the treats I made wrapped all pretty and ready to be given away!

Holiday Baking Part 3

A few more of the goodies I've gifted this week:

Lumps of Coal:

These bad boys are a favorite with my girls.  I followed the recipe exactly, but instead of pouring it into a pan, I scooped it by the spoonful and placed it in a little miniature muffin liner...so they actually looked like lumps of coal.  So cute and kids loved it!

Grind one package oreos in the food processor.  Melt 1/4 Cup butter, stir in 5 cups marshmallows, stir until mallows melt, pour over ground oreos and pour into greased pan.  Cool and cut.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies:

These have a long back story...see, almost 5 years ago I made some chocolate chip cookies for a small group of friends...they were not great so I shared me shameful secret...I've never been able to make good cookies...yes, I know, I went to pastry school, I can bake everything, but the secret to chocolate chip cookie success eluded me.  A few weeks later, one of the friends who had the great misfortune of being a victim of my less than stellar cookies was spouting off some ridiculous statistics about sharks and shark attacks.  He was kind of a jokester so I told him he was full of it...no way could he know that much about sharks...he must be making it up and I wasn't falling for it.  He proposed a bet...if he was right, I'd try recipe after recipe until I found the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  And he would get to test each batch.  I don't remember what would happen if I won...clearly, I didn't.  So, after sharing this with the women I worked for, one of them sent me a link to the New York Times recipe...needless to say, I haven't made another recipe for chocolate chip cookies since...so, here it is...the best cookie recipe ever.  And here are my changes: I use salted butter and cut back a little on the added salt in the recipe.  I also use Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chunks for the chocolate.  Absolutely follow the directions for the two kinds of flour, the sifting and chilling at least 24 hours...all three are KEY.  Sprinkle with salt and bake as directed.  Seriously, you are welcome...you'll never buy pre made dough again.  Promise.

Peppermint Bark:

I used this recipe exactly.  Spreading it super thin on a cookie sheet lined with my silpat.  Yum.  Delicious.

Marshmallow Caramel Corn:

I posted about this once before...it was so great I decided to mass produce it for holiday treats.  I use 2 bags of popcorn and do 1.5 times the recipe for the gooey stuff.  It comes out perfectly!






Click for Part 1 and Part 2.

One more recipe to come...its an old family recipe and what has made me "famous" for baking among my friends...stay tuned...

Holiday Baking Part 2

Ok, here are a few more of the delicious treats I made for the holidays...some for parties, some for families I work for, some for dessert  dinner tonight...

As always...click photo for link to recipe...

I saw this on Pinterest marked as "S'mores Bark."  You had me at S'mores.  I clicked the link which didn't work but found out it's actually a Weight Watchers recipe that isn't S'mores bark at all.  It's just marshmallows coated in chocolate.  Delicious?  Yes.  S'mores Bark? No.  So, I made it into S'more Bark anyway. 

 Follow the directions on this recipe, but: Use a 9X13 pan.  Line it with foil then place graham crackers in a single layer to cover as much of the bottom as possible.  I believe I used 6 which gave me a nice rectangle in the middle of the pan.  Do everything else the recipe says...I used a small offset spatula to spread the chocolate mallow mixture out over the crackers.  

I let it cool a bit at room temp then became impatient and placed it in the freezer for about 20 min.  Broke it into pieces and...yum!  I did use bittersweet (60%) chocolate chips, it makes it a little stronger so you'll eat less...but still, I ate a lot...oops.

Peanut Butter Graham Balls:
I made these after my failed attempt at the peppermint puppy chow...I had all the ingredients and they were super simple to throw together.  I didn't roll them in mini chips like the photo shows...I drizzled some of the melted chocolate over them in a circular pattern.  They looked nice.  They taste good too...not a 10 by any means, but a solid addition to the cookie platter.

Bacon Peanut Brittle:
For realz??  I knew I had to make this the second I saw the recipe.  My first attempt was terrible...I didn't have a candy thermometer but thought I could use my pastry cheffing skills to get the job done...not so, as it would turn out.  The sugar turned too quickly and BAM!  burnt brittle...have you ever tasted burnt sugar...it's bitter and gross.  Yuck.  So, ran off to the store and got a chancy thermometer...brittle turned out amazing!  Here are the changes I made:  I fried the bacon (I doubled what the recipe called for...I love me some bacon) then crumbled it--who has time to dice bacon then fry it?  Not this girl...  Also, I used a silpat instead of greasing the cookie sheet.  Nothing sticks to a silpat...nothing.  If you don't have one, you need to invest-it's worth it.  I also added a little vanilla at the end, right before pouring it onto the pan.  Next time, I'll make it with bourbon instead, but alas, I'm a sissy, girly drinker and there is no bourbon in my house.  Next time.  Oh, a few more tips...spread it out as thin as possible...thick brittle is hard and obnoxious to eat.  As it cools, pick up one end and begin to lightly pull, causing the brittle to stretch and become even more thin.  To clean your pot, immediately fill it with water and get it back on the stove...the only way to clean hardened sugar is to dissolve it in boiling water.  I love me some brittle, and bacon is my favorite food group, so how could this be anything less than a dream come true?

Check back next week for the last few (ok, there are plenty more) recipes.  If you missed part 1, click here.

A Delicious Mess/Holiday Baking

So...I'm a pastry chef by trade.  Have I mentioned that?  Well, seeing as I don't believe I have any strangers reading my blog, all of you already knew that.  Anyway...come time time of year the apartment becomes a mess of flour, brown sugar, chocolate and all things delicious.

Over the years I've made TONS of holiday goodies.  My family has a set list that we make every year, but as I'm never home Thanksgiving weekend when all the baking is done, I've missed out on that for pretty much the entire last decade.  Some years I just make a little fudge and call it good.  Other years I've been commissioned (because that's what you call it when artists are hired, and I am an artist after all) to make platters of cookies for many cookie exchange parties...usually the one taking my goodies has given me credit...or so they say...

This year, apparently I took out all the stops without even realizing it.  I've made so many things I can't even keep track...but just for you loyal readers, I'll figure it out.  I'll post a few recipes every few days leading up to Christmas in case you have any last minute needs...all of them are easy and most importantly, delicious.

Here are the first two (click photo for link to recipe):

Puppy Chow: This isn't the exact recipe I used, though its close.  I couldn't find the one I used.  But it simply added 1/4 C butter to the peanut butter/chocolate mixture.  It is delicious!  

See...I actually attempted the Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow here because it looked amazing and I thought it was a nice holiday twist on the standard.  It turned out disgusting.  I don't know if I did something wrong, but the candy cane bits DID NOT stick to the cereal pieces like they do in this photo...so basically it was bland rice cereal coated in gross white chocolate and powdered sugar...yuck!  Let me know if anyone else has luck with this recipe...

Toffee Pretzels: Seriously, these COULD NOT be easier!  And super delicious!  I followed the recipe exactly except I only used the semi-sweet chocolate as I wasn't up for another white chocolate disaster after the puppy chow incident...though I do love white chocolate pretzels...next time.

Stay tuned for more recipes and I'll post some pics of the gift baskets I made using all these goodies!

Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Again...looking at my old blog I found this post.  These nut clusters are amazingly simple and completely delicious!  Plus, how adorable are my little men?  Big One is 5 now and Little One just turned 3...my how time flies!  This post originally debuted in December 2010.

I needed a project to entertain the boys last Friday.  It was cold, we didn't want to go out, and I was fresh out of Christmas crafts to do.

That's when I remembered the delicious chocolate nut clusters my dear Gma sent me for Thanksgiving.  My sis said she got the recipe from Gma and they were super easy to make...plus it's so simple I memorized the recipe.

So, off to the store I went.  Little One and I picked up Big One from school, headed home and got started!

Both of the boys loved that they could help.  I let Big One put in all the ingredients, Little One just liked being able to see what we were doing-usually we're working up on the counter and he's left staring at our ankles!

Add 32oz peanuts to crockpot: half salted, half unsalted

Next, add 8oz German baking choclate (DO NOT STIR)

Layer on 12oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

ok, maybe it was a little less than 12oz after samples were taken!

Chop 30oz white almond bark

Add white chocolate to top and cover.  Cook on low 2-3hours

When chocolate is soft, stir and spoon onto wax paper.

Enjoy!

Apple Pie

I make a killer apple pie.  You can thank Hannah over at EttaGrace for that.  See, she asked me to make all the desserts for her wedding where I made enough pie, banana bread, cake and cookies to feed a small army.  Up until that point I hadn't spent too much time on apple pie but I became obsessed with finding the best apple pie recipe.  I tried many, and then I found this one.  This past weekend I was called upon yet again to make some pies for an event Hannah was hosting.  Apple pie was a no-brainer. (I also made pumpkin, but that's simple, everyone can make a good pumpkin pie!)

Part of the dessert spread at Hannah's wedding.

I don't follow the recipe exactly...I never follow recipes exactly.  Here are my changes:

First, I use a mix of Granny Smith and Honey Crisp apples which I peel and core.  Chop the apples in half then into slices.

Second, as you're slicing the apples, place in a large plastic bowl (I find the apples break more easily in glass bowls) and squirt a little lemon juice on them to prevent browning.

I sprinkle cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger on the apples and toss to coat.  I also sprinkle about 1-2Tbl of flour to help thicken the juices.  I don't ever measure the amounts, I can tell you that I use the most cinnamon, followed by about half as much ginger, half again of cloves and just a dash of nutmeg.

Place the apples into a pie pan with a bottom crust (I usually use the pre made and rolled kind from the store but since my pie plate is larger I have to roll it out a little to make it big enough) and arrange in a dome.

Place in fridge to chill while making the caramel.

Getting ready for the fridge while I make the caramel!

I follow the caramel from the recipe above but I pour 95% of it on the apples (the recipe calls for a lattice top then pouring the caramel over/through that) drizzling it somewhat evenly over the apples.  I then roll out the top crust and place to top the pie.  Cut a few slits in the crust to allow venting while baking then put back in to chill for 20 or so minutes.

The chilling of the pie before baking ensures that the crust won't fall.  Falling crust is due to the butter in the dough melting before the crust sets.  By chilling it, the butter re-solidifies and the crust will set before the butter completely melts and the crust falls.

After it's done chilling, heat up the last little bit of caramel and use a pastry paint brush to cover top crust, but DO NOT brush over edges of pie crust.  The edge bakes more rapidly and for a uniform color you'll want to just brush the crust that is covering the filling and not the edge.

Fresh out of the oven pie!

Bake as directed, cool, slice and top each piece with cinnamon honey whipped cream:

Again, I don't measure anything (sorry)

Place cold heavy whipping cream into your mixer bowl and start beating on low speed with your whip attachment.  As it starts to thicken, you can increase the speed and sprinkle in some powdered sugar to sweeten slightly (maybe like 1/4 cup max) and some cinnamon to taste.  Before it gets much thicker, drizzle in some honey as it's whipping.  Don't be afraid to stop the mixer and take a taste.  This is your dessert-make it just how you want it!  Remember, it's easy to add more of anything, but impossible to take away once you've added an ingredient.  Whip until you reach a medium peak.  You want the cream to form decent peaks but the sides to be smooth.  If you've beaten it too long, the sides of the peaks will be jagged.  Don't worry, simply add in a little more heavy whipping cream and mix by hand to combine.

The complete spread.