My first "piping" experience

Since I used boxed funfetti cupcakes and its coordinating canned icing (I know, scandalous!), there is no recipe in this post.

However, this was the very first time I tried piping rather than slapping the frosting on with a spatula. I dumped the frosting into a ziploc and clipped the corner, and poof!

Although, note to self: 1 can would be fine when you do the spatula method, but when piping? Spring for the extra can. My little masterpieces got smaller and smaller as I went through the tin!

Pampered Chef for the Cure!

My sister-in-law, Sherri, is participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day coming up in October.


You might ask what this has to do with food and cooking...? Well, I will let Sherri tell you herself!

As you know, I am doing the 3-day, 60 mile walk in October here in Philly to support breast cancer research as well as funding for testing and education. To help me raise money, a local Pampered Chef representative has set up a program for 15% of any product order in this fundraiser to go towards my campaign. If I reach $1000 in sales, she will add in an extra 15% of her commission. Orders can not be placed online to link to my fundraiser, but all products can be viewed with pricing at:https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/shopOnline.tpc.

If anyone is interested in making a purchase, they can email me: king.sherri@gmail.com and I will call them with info to place the order by credit card or check.

Thanks!!
Sherri

So if you're thinking about adding to your cookware collection or need to replace those splintery wooden spoons, shoot Sherri an email - not only will your kitchen be up to date in the coolest gadgets, but you'll know that some of your money went to an awesome cause!

Smarter Fettucini Alfredo

I hardly ever make or order anything Alfredo because it's just so blatantly bad for you - I guess I prefer to clog my arteries and add to my fat ass in a more subtle manner. So when I saw this recipe for a "smarter" version on the Kraft Foods website, I jumped at the chance to make it.


The recipe below is directly from Kraft; I doubled the sauce because I also threw in broccoli and grilled chicken.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. fettuccine, uncooked
• 1-1/4 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 tsp. flour
• 1/3 cup PHILADELPHIA 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese
• 3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. pepper 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, beat broth and flour in medium saucepan with whisk until well blended. Add cream cheese, 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, nutmeg and pepper; cook 2 min. or until mixture comes to boil and thickens, stirring constantly.

DRAIN pasta; place in large bowl. Add sauce; toss to coat. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and parsley.

Houston, we have a problem

For those of you who read the blog through the actual site (as opposed to through Google Reader) you may have noticed some changes in its appearance.

Yours truly has decided to get fancy and change up the template. Without backing up my original (*kicks self repeatedly*), I installed a new one, and... disaster.

I have tried to restore to a basic layout, but I still have several weird problems - my dates are gone and the word "undefined" is scattered throughout instead. My blog titles aren't big, and bullets don't show up.

I have already tried editing blog posts and completely deleting/re-adding the template... to no avail. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm more than happy to listen... I am beyond frustrated with this. :(

Quadruple Chocolate Bliss Cake

I wanted a yummy dessert to take to Nana's for Palm Sunday dinner. I could have sworn I had saved a chocolately bundt-style cake in my reader, but I couldn't find it.


I found this Triple Chocolate Cake on the Kraft website, and immediately thought it would be perfect. You may notice, however, that I titled this post Quadruple Chocolate Cake; well, I decided that 3 kinds of chocolate (cake mix, pudding mix, and the chocolate frosting) weren't enough. I added a handful of chocolate chips to the batter as well.


This was so, so, so, so delicious. My only regret is that I didn't use all of the sauce for on top. When I poured it on, it seemed like way too much, so I may have used about half of it; it definitely could have used more.


Once again, I had some assistance from my little helper:



Ingredients

• 1 pkg. (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
• 1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
• 1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• 1-1/2 cups raspberries

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan. Beat all ingredients except whipped topping, chocolate and raspberries in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 min. scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into prepared pan.

BAKE 50 min. to 1 hour or until wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 min. Loosen cake from side of pan with knife or metal spatula and gently remove cake. Cool cake completely on wire rack. Place on serving plate.

RESERVE 2 Tbsp. of the whipped topping. Microwave remaining whipped topping and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after each min. Drizzle over cake. Immediately drop reserved whipped topping, by scant teaspoonfuls, around top of cake; create star shape by drawing wooden toothpick through middle several times. Spoon raspberries into center of cake. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.

Garlic Cresent Rolls

This really doesn't need a recipe, but I am so not the type to think of things on my own, so when I do? I gotta go with it.

I had a tube of crescent rolls in my fridge and felt like some bread with the Baked Gnocchi. I thought about it and improvised, and voila!


Ingredients

• 1 tube crescent rolls
• Butter
• Minced garlic (I used jarred)
• Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven according to the tube and unroll the dough. Spread butter across each roll - as much or as little as you'd like.

Add a small blob of garlic on each roll and then roll up. Sprinkle the tops with the Italian seasoning and back according to the directions.

Creamy Baked Gnocchi

While this dinner from Giada's Everyday Pasta was good, I didn't feel it was great. However, I am so so so so so partial to a nice baked gnocchi with a yummy meat sauce, so perhaps I am a bit biased.


I thought the flavors were very good, and this was very easy to put together. And Ryan did actual eat a decent amount, so that right there says a lot. ;)


Ingredients

• 2 (17 ounce) packages potato gnocchi
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 12 ounces baby spinach
• 3 ounces fresh goat cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the gnocchi in a lightly greased 9x13x2 inch baking dish. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, chicken broth, and flour over medium heat. Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir to combine. Add the spinach and toss to coat in the cream. Pour the cream and spinach mixture evenly over the gnocchi and gently spread the spinach out to cover.
4. Crumble the goat cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden in places, about 30 minutes.

Chicken Cheesesteaks

I ripped this one out of Everyday Food and was recently reminded of it when I saw it on Good Thymes and Good Food.


The time allocated was nowhere near enough for my chicken, which admittedly were very fat; I should have sliced them to make them thinner. But all in all, this was one delicious meal! (Oh, and I did NOT pull out the insides of the bread - that's the best part!)


Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken cutlets
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 mixed bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced (I omitted)
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 6 ounces sliced provolone cheese
• 4 soft hoagie rolls, split lengthwise
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise

Directions
1. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, toss chicken with 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil, without turning, until chicken is opaque throughout, 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Transfer to a cutting board (reserve baking sheet); let cool, and thinly slice. Set chicken aside.

3. On baking sheet, toss together peppers, onion, garlic, and remaining tablespoon oil. Broil, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender and slightly charred, 8 to 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

4. Add chicken to broiled vegetables; toss, and spread in a single layer.

5. Top chicken and vegetables with cheese; broil until cheese is bubbling, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

6. Scoop out most of the doughy center from both halves of rolls; discard.

7. Spread rolls with mayonnaise; fill with chicken and vegetables.

8. Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Fries

I've made sweet potato fries before, but one of the things that really attracted me to this particular version from Annie was the little tip about soaking the fries in cold water prior to baking. Finally - an answer to my soggy fry woes!


I didn't get to fully enjoy the benefits, however, because I was also making Chicken Cheesesteaks which required the broiler, so my oven temps were weird and inconsistent. That aside, these were very tasty, if a tad mushy, and I can't wait to try again without temperature interruptions!

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil greased with cooking spray.

Halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and cut each half into long spears. (Soak in cold water for 20-30 minutes before continuing for crispy texture outside. Drain well and pat dry.) Place the potato spears on the sheet pan and toss with olive oil. Spread them in a single layer. Combine the brown sugar, salt, and pepper and sprinkle on the potatoes. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn with a spatula or tongs. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and serve hot.

Crockpot Pot Roast

A week or two ago, there was a post on one of my message boards about spicing up pot roast. A wonderful poster, Rachel, responded with this awesome recipe that I immediately put on my menu.

I don't usually like to cook with condensed soup, and definitely not two cans in one dish, but this pot roast sounded so good! I did buy the low-sodium kind so I felt better about it.

Not only was this meal ridiculously easy to set up, but it was GOOD. I didn't need a knife at all, and the flavor was just so intense and awesome. (Oh, and I TOTALLY forgot to add potatoes and onions, and it was still so good - I can't wait to try it with everything!)

Don't mind this picture - there's not a whole lot of natural light in my kitchen, and it's rather difficult to make the contents of your crockpot look pretty. :)


Ingredients

• Pot Roast (mine was about 3 pounds)
• Potatoes
• Onions
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix

Add Pot Roast, potatoes and onions. On top pour everything else. Cook on high 4-6 hours, or low for 8-10 hours.