Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Brandini Toffee
Just a couple of pictures fo the toffee. This was the perfect little treat to place in the Hoilday baskets I made for some of our neighbors. Like I said the toffee was so good just need to make it a little thinner next time.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
White Chocolate Pretzels
The pretzels before they are dipped in white chocolate
Melting the chocolate, if you dont have a double bolier you can make your own with a pot of boiling water and a heat proof bowl on top.
The pretzels as they are cooling.
A close up of the pretzels.Friday, December 10, 2010
Sundays in the South
Full view of the cake.
A piece of the cake after I cut it.Dark Chocolate and Pecan Muffins
Close up view of the muffins
Top view of the muffins. I made them small so they would be easy to eat in the car.
Peanut Brittle
I was so surprised at the way it tasted. So much better than anything you could buy in the store, and very easy to do. I did however suffer one battle wound. When I was spreading out the brittle I was getting upset because it was not spreading out as thin as I would like so without thinking I touched the brittle to try and smooth it out. My finger immediately blistered. Trust me a small price to pay for such a great product. I will be making this recipe again.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Chocolate Caramel doughnuts
I dusted the top with a little powdered sugar. Just a little finishing touch.
Close up of the doughnuts, they were so good hot right out of the pan.
Another close up.
The center of the doughnuts, I wish the caramel melted a little better. I dont think I will do caramel again.Monday, November 29, 2010
Photo Wall
For a normal person this goal would not be too hard to accomplish but for me it was. One of my biggest pet peeves (along with 1,000 others) is crocked photos. My roommates used to move the photos in our dorm room because they knew how much it irritated me. So you can only imagine what I had to do make sure the photos lining my entire stairway were straight and exactly what I wanted.
I re-did the photos three times. Haha I thought my hubby was going to kill me. He was not pleased when he came home from a walk with the dog and I had all the photos off the wall in a huge pile. Good thing we are already married. I am very happy with the results and I love that every time I walk up and down my stairs I am able to remember one of the happiest days of my life. I love my husband and am so happy I will be with him forever.
Please ingore the color of my walls. It is just one more thing on my list.I call this the kissing wall becasue all the picutures are of me and the hubby kissing.It looks really cool walking up the staris and seeing all the photos. I cant wait until I can add some baby pictures.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Jingle Bell Wreaths
I wanted to start off with something simple and small to try and make so I could build up my confidence with crafting. I have the type of personality where if the craft, recipe or whatever I am working on does not turn out perfect I become very frustrated.So, I was very excited when I made the jingle bell wreath and it turned out to be super easy. All you need are jingle bells, wire and wire cutters, that is it!! How much easier can it be! I made a total of four wreaths while sitting in bed with my husband watching tv.
I made four different color wreaths, 3 solid color and one multi – color. Theses will be the cutest hostess gifts with a bottle of wine for all those holiday parties. I was also thinking about making one for the dog as a holiday dog collar. I am not sure if he will wear it haha I guess we will have to see.
This one is my favorite. It is gold jingle bells with white paint to look a little like snow. I made two of them and gave one to my Mother-in-Law. I hope she likes it.!!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Homemade Snowflake Marshmallows
To try and get myself out of my little pity party I decided to make one of my favorite comfort foods hot chocolate and marshmallows. I love hot chocolate, it just makes you feel warm all over and the milk (I like to think) makes it healthy. The best part are the marshmallows on top, they get all gooey and soft from the hot chocolate. There is nothing better in the world.
A look at the marshmallows on the baking sheet before they harden.
Cutting out the Marshmallows in the shape of snowflakes to get in the Hoilday spirt
A close up of the finised marshmallows. They looked so cute.
It makes alot, which is good becasue they were a HUGE hit with the entire family (both sides).
Monday, November 22, 2010
Hold Tight
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Butterscotch and Walnut cookies
A close up of the cookies. This is only about a 1/3 of what the batter makes.
My hubby took this picture. How cute is he, he wanted to make it look like a bakery. I love him so much.
Friday, November 12, 2010
French Onion Soup
This is what the onions look like after they have been cooked for an hour. The onions are still a little raw (you can see it in the pictures) so I contiuned to cook them for another hour.
I could not get the picuture to turn around, but you still get the idea. The cheese was perfect and there was a great crust on the top. Which I think is the best part.
I think this is my favorite picture. You can really see the cheese and how it melted over the bowl. LOVE THIS SO GOOD!!Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Hot Spinach Dip
Here is a picture as soon as I came out of the oven. Please ignore my dirty stove top. I was cooking alot that night and did not have time to clean up until after I was finished.
A closeup look of the dip. It is so good with homemade crackers.Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Parmesan Fish Sticks
We just used regular tartar sauce to dip the fish sticks in they taste great. The fish stays surprising moist. The prep and clean up is not too bad you need about 3 bowls but other than that these are a definite keeper. Love them and they make great left overs.
The fish sticks before. I know these are not the best picutes. My regualr camera was not working so I had to use my old one and the picuture quality is not the best. But dont let the pictures fool you these are the BEST!!
The fish sticks after they were cooked. Again dont the picutures fool you these are great.Monday, November 8, 2010
Scallop Provencal
With being so busy with work and planning this meeting I was defiantly neglecting my husband. So I wanted to make him something special for dinner. I decided to make him Scallop Provencal. I have not made it since News Years and it is one of my husband’s favorite. It is very easy to make but scallops can be very expensive. I buy the ones from Whole Foods. The great thing about scallops is they soak up the flavors from the sauce so well, you can taste the sauce in each bite. However, because the sauce is so rich (made with butter, wine, garlic and some flour to thicken) I wanted to make something to cut the richness of the sauce. So I made simple red roasted potatoes with just a little rosemary, to complement the sauce. It is so quick and easy to make I love it, and what makes it even better is that I know how much my husband loves them.
I sprinkle some parsley over the top of the dish to open up the taste buds even more.
The red potatoes before I placed them in the over,
The potatoes after they were roasted. So good love these they are so quick and easy to make.
The Scallops cooking in the pan. The sauce was so good. I am going to try and make the sauce and place it over pasta.
The finished product. Haha looking at these pictures makes me realise I need to work on my plateing. The presentation does not make the dish look any better.Friday, October 22, 2010
Pecan Waffles
I also roasted some pecan and chopped them up and placed them in my butter syrup combination. My hubby is dying for some type of banana waffle. I told him I need to get the basic ones down first before I try the more advanced ones.
Waffle before the syrup.Butter and syrup with toasted pecans, so good!!
Best waffle ever. Cant wait to try some gingerbread ones around Christmas.Thursday, October 21, 2010
Eggs-n-Toast
This weekend I made eggs –n- toast. I take my ravioli cutter that I use and cut the center out of the bread. It is pretty easy to make. You just place the bread in the pan like you would for grilled cheese or french toast and wait until it gets a little crisp on each side and then crack the egg into the center of the bread. Sounds more complicated than it really is. I then used the last bit of bacon from the farmers market will have to make sure I get there before it ends in November so I can stock up for the winter. This is a great recipe to try and you can creative by using different cookie cutters. For Valentines Day last year I used my heart cookie cutter.
Not the best picture I have ever taken but you get the general idea.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Halloween Whoopie Pies
Next time I make them I will double the batter recipe it only makes 12 cookies (remember each whoopie pie needs two cookies). They are just too good and my husband and I keep eating them there are going to be none left for lunch this week.
What the pies looked like when they first came out of the oven.
So I have tons of picutres of the cookies, I really loved them!! I have a Halloween party at work and I am thinking I will make them for the party because they are a definte crowd pleaser.