Caramelized Onion Foccacia

For our anniversary, I wanted to make some yummy bread to go with the steak and veggies we were planning to grill. I have this great new cookbook, The Mixer Bible, to use with my new stand mixer and I'm loving all the recipes. Foccacia with Caramelized Onions stood out to me, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. It was so delicious. Other than taking a decent amount of time, like all yeast breads, it wasn't difficult. I did over cook it by a few minutes, but it still tasted great :) The recipe is from the cookbook, but you can also find it here.

A team effort.

On our anniversary, I had grand plans of getting up early and making an anniversary worthy breakfast while husband and baby slept on, unaware. As soon as I was up and had the ingredients out, so was our little one. I fed her breakfast and once she finished eating she was curious about what I was up to. As you know (I think), I love to bake. As Meredith toddled up onto a chair, working alongside me, dumping ingredients into the mixing bowl, this one big hope that felt so far away had suddenly arrived. There are so many things about parenthood that felt so far away when Meredith was just born and now, after the quick blink of an eye, they are here. Getting to bake with my little girl just about takes the cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

One of my friends pinned this Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownie recipe on Pinterest last week and I had been craving it since. I saw the recipe soon after making apple crisp so I had to finish that first :) Last night I decided I had had enough apple crisp and decided to make the brownies. I was not disappointed. The flavor was delicious. I will say the texture was a bit unique, almost rubbery. They were still super tasty, especially hot. I think the texture was due to the fact that I substituted applesauce for the egg. Also, pumpkin in baked goods tends to result in a different texture in general. So, I would highly recommend these! Head here for the recipe.

ps. As I am writing this, I am using some of the leftover pumpkin in a bowl of warm oatmeal. Tasty!

Wordless Wednesday: Apple Crisp

Apple Picking.

We haven't been apple picking yet this year and it's breaking my heart. It seems like it's been an exceptionally rainy & hot fall seasons so far. There have hardly been any days that seem like the perfect apple picking day. Tomorrow we are hoping to go, but once again the forecast is not great. I've been pinning away tonight, thinking about the yummy things I want to make tomorrow night and later in the week.

Do you like apple picking? What is your favorite apple treat?

Oh! PS- for you computer geeks out there (ie. my husband) check out this apple pie.

food images: 1 2 3 4

Chana Masala

Ever since I was first introduced to Indian food in late high school/early college I have loved chana masala. While I've started experimenting with making Indian food over the last few months, I had yet to try chana masala, mostly because my husband is a meat-tarian. He has trouble eating a meat-free meal. But he is a good sport about it every once in a while, so we gave it a try last night.




I followed Smitten Kitchen's recipe, which you can find here.  I have to admit I was really impressed with myself using so many spices for one meal. Chris even asked if I had used a sauce base. I was pretty proud to say I had totally made it from scratch. My only complaint is that the flavors weren't as rich as I might've expected from so many spices. Next time I will try making this in my crock pot (without the added water).  I think this will allow the chickpeas to better soak up the flavors.



I served the chickpeas over jasmine rice with garlic (store bought) naan. I buttered the naan and warmed it on a pan. It was basically heaven on a plate.

Are you an Indian food lover? Let me know if you try it!

Wordless(ish) Wednesday: beaktw(eats)

Sea scallops & shrimp in garlic butter. Recipe here.

Not pretty, but yum! And I don't like fresh basil :/

Roasted sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts. Recipe here.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread
From: Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (my favorite cookbook for daily cooking & baking)

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp ground cinammon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg, beaten (I used egg substitute. Less fluffy & bit more dry but we got allergies, yo!)

1 cup sugar

1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini

1/4 cup cooking oil

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (or raisins ;) )

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and 12 inch up sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, shredded zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

she's a lady at the dinner table :)

 

1

Chicken Tikka Masala & Lemon Bars

As I've said before, I love Pinterest. It's like an easy access cookbook for foods that deserve to be on This is Why You're Fat. Except the foods are so pretttty and yummmmy. So, earlier this week I tried out two new things that I had found. For dinner we had Chicken Tikka Masala and for dessert we I had lemon bars. Both turned out deliciously. Considering I didn't even have all the right spices for dinner, I lacked some of the kitchen tools for the dessert, I had never made Indian food before nor had I made lemon bars from scratch, I was pretty pleased with myself by the end of the night!

Chicken Tikka Masala


Lemon Bars with a coconut crust

Don't let the food processor or lemon zesting scare you! I didn't have the right tools and it worked out anyway :)

Follow the links above for the recipe, you won't regret it :)

ice cream cake

For as long as I can remember, I have loved ice cream cake. Even for my December birthday, I often wanted an ice cream cake. But even though it's one of those desserts I love, it never occurred to me to make one. Until this weekend. I received Woman's Day magazine in the mail and they were featured no-cook dinners and desserts. With the 90 degree heat in my house with no a/c, I was intrigued.

When I saw the ice cream cake, I just knew I had to try it. People, now you have to as well. It is SO easy and SO delicious and SO versatile. It took about 10 minutes of "work" and then several later we enjoyed the yumminess. It is certain to be my new favorite summer dessert to share with friends.

Melt chocolate & peanut butter


Mix with rice krispies cereal


Place in springform pan. Freeze for 10 minutes to set.

Add ice cream


Freeze for at least 4 hours.

ENJOY.


Seriously. Go. Now. Make it.