I'M BACK!!!!

Ok, I'm back and I am very very excited . I just joined Tuesday's with Dorie , a baking club I guess you could say. I will be purchasing baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.


If you'd like to join the group you have until FRIDAY to join , and then thats it!! its closed!


so look for lots of baking posts from me ( its part of the rules) hopefully I will ROCK them haha

until then


-allison

Long time no post!

... I was really discouraged with my cake endeavor . I took a break for a few reasons. trying to figure out the best way to photograph the food . and I've been experimenting with some recipes, that I will start to post as soon as I get back from vacation ..

see you on the flip side!

White Cake w/ Nutella Mousse and Hazelnut Buttercreme

My cake adventure started Saturday night I have a feeling I will finish on Sunday

I started with making the white cake from allrecipes.com I only made two 6 inch cakes , basically I’m just experimenting and didn’t want a huge cake to come out icky and then throw it away. For the nutella mousse, I took 1 cup of whipping crème and whipped that adding a touch of sugar.Then I folded in about a half cup of nutella to make the mousse.Its super yummy.

The recipe I used for the buttercreme frosting was from the Yankee Magazine, it came out great. Now its just time to assemble! It’s so hard to stay patient and let the cakes cool!!

First cake = disaster the top kept peeling off as I was putting the buttercreme on. Even though it didn’t look pretty I still tasted it. That part was icky too. WAY TOO SWEET!! The cake tasted yummy by its self. But with everything on it, ick.

I think for the next one I will try something fruity. This one definitely did NOT work....

The horrible finished product.

...... to be continued...

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

My aunt hosted an end of the summer cookout for the family , and I always feel challenged to try new recipes. Its my not so secret goal to impress them each time. I also try and compete with my mom who is an amazing baker! So I attempted to make Red Velvet cupcakes seen on the firefly pie blog. I followed the recipe to a T. My only regret was using silicon bakewear for the first time. It was awful. I won't ever use it again. I am not so handy with the piping , actually its the first time I really used it .I think I did a pretty fantastic job . Before I frosted the cupcakes I piped some of the frosting into each one so when you bite into it there is a little surprise!
I think they were awesome. I would definitely make them again. I had a lot of frosting left over so I think I would use a different (bigger) tip with the piping bag. Overall, if there was a contest .. I think my mom would have won... She is my mom afterall :)

Dinner for One

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now , but I was unmotivated , and then I got sick . Boo.

So I was experimenting taking inspiration from Rhodey Girl who got her idea from Kath Eats Real Food I made Pistachio and Goat Cheese crusted chicken Breast I followed her directions , but used only pistachio's and used alot more goat cheese. I also used dijon mustard instead of honey mustard . I didn't want the sweetness.


I also roasted some veggies , I'm big into yellow squash right now so I did that and some onions . I used some left over potatoes for another side dish. The whole thing turned out wonderfully . I think this is something I could make again and again , it was so insanely easy , and super tasty

The finished product!

Week Day Lunches

I got a wild hair up my butt the other day and decided that I was going to make myself lunch for the week. I wasn't sure what I wanted to make myself , but knew I wanted to use items my picky husband wouldn't eat or want. I went to the supermarket (Oh how I wish there was a Whole Foods near me.) I came up with what I call

Pasta with Roasted Chicken and Veggies

2 Cups (whatever is on hand) cooked chicken

1 whole yellow squash

1 whole zucchini

1 Vidalia onion

2 cloves garlic

1lb asparagus

1lb small egg bowties (its better with orzo)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup Gruyere cheese

I started with left over chicken from the night before. I didn’t really care if I didn’t have enough for the week. The veggies that I bought would more than make up for it. After I tore the chicken into small pieces, I chopped my veggies into the same size pieces so they could cook evenly. In the mean time I preheated my oven to 400 degrees. To the veggies I added 2 cloves of garlic (I looove garlic) and some olive oil. I spread the veggies, garlic and olive oil and salt and pepper on a cookie sheet and roasted them for 20 minutes. In the meantime my bow ties were cooking after 20 minutes the veggies were PERFECT!

Then in a giant bowl I added the veggies, (after slightly cooled) chicken, and pasta and mixed. I added a little more oil olive so the pasta wouldn’t dry out. I separated lunch for each work day and had plenty left over for a night where I had no husband!

Finally to each serving I added shredded Gruyere Cheese. The dish heats up perfectly, and is super yummy!!!

The Final Product

First Blog

OK , I've taken up a new hobby. I've always loved food , and cooking , being in the kitchen . So now I will blog about it. I make a lot of things. I experiment. I follow recipes. I'm getting to the point where I am trusting myself and thinking outside the box. This has been exciting. So I hope you enjoy the things I will share. Bon Appetit!!