Halloween!

That super sugary day is coming quickly.  I don't hardly have time to bake anymore, so I stayed up late (I have the bedtime of a "Quilting Club" president) to do some catching up. The orange icing is a little "creamsicle", but I did the best I could with my cheapo food coloring.

I thought I would share some of my Halloween memories from when I was a kid....

Normally, kids dress up like ballerinas, ninjas, and pirates and walk around collecting candy in the biggest pillow cases they can find.

Not when I was growing up.

Every good presbyterian kid knows that Halloween is really Reformation Day.  I've mentioned before that I am a P.K. ("preacher's kid" for those of you who've never been to Christian summer camp or "iYouth for Awesome Praise and True Friendship" youth group), and my dad would have had a conniption if we had dressed up to support that pagan holiday.

So instead of being a harmless ballerina, or worse a woodland fairy with sparkly wings (I really wanted some... like bad...), I dressed up like I was from the middle-ages and hung out with the other creepy church kids.  It took a really long time for my brothers and I to start trick-or-treating, and once my younger brother got started, he was never going to stop.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad my dad taught me just about everything from Church history. I nailed History 102 to the wall (no pun intended Martin Luther fans...) because I already knew most of what Dr. Pierre lectured about.  Dad probably saved me from childhood obesity as well.  Think of all that candy I missed out on!

Anyways, now that I am married and have my own little apartment, I will be leaving the light on for the little ballerinas and pirates. I even went to the store today and bought the candy! I am one pumpkin away from Halloween perfection!!!

And, I am slowly working my way towards my winter fat storage.  It's only natural to gain weight around winter time, bears do it... and it's almost November, so if you haven't started yet, you better get to it! Start with these rich chocolate cupcakes with vanilla (creamsicle colored) icing!

Recipe is courtesy of JoyofBaking.com.  Also, try her vanilla icing, it's quite good!

Enjoy!

Where has my life gone...

Unemployment was not really that fun.  I mean, I had just moved to a new town, so I didn't know anybody.  I didn't know where anything was, and wouldn't want to go by myself anyways.  My husband worked an 8-6 job; it was just lonely.  The apartment could only be so clean, I could only bake so many cookies.... and I was definitely not going to work out more than once a day (which turned to zero times a day after a visit to the back doctor...).

Now I have a job, and as you can see from the date of my last post, it soaks up every moment of my day.  Usually, I wake up at 6 so that I can get to work early.  I do this mostly for the copier...  If you're a teacher, you know what I mean.

Today there was finally a respite from the grind.  Appropriate for a Sunday.  So I baked some more whoopie pies.  These are AWESOME!!  They are from JoyofBaking.com.  The cookies are a lot softer than the last recipe I tried, and the icing is tastier too.  I'm not a big fan of crisco in icing, but it really does make it nice and fluffy, and doesn't taste too bad either!! Crisco can do anything...

(photo courtesy of Joyofbaking.com)

I probably ate three of these in the amount of batter I consumed.  I was wondering why I ended up with an odd number of cookies...  Oh well... P.S. I bought one of those cool, slidey ice cream scoops. So all my whoopie cookies were the same size, and they look amazing!

The ice cream scoop inspired me to make more meat balls this week.  I am perfecting my own recipe.  It is coming along, but could still use some tweeks here and there.

I hope this reminds my readers I'm still here, and I will try to post more often.  P.P.S. this week someone (cough, cough) will be 24.  While someone else (cough Mr. Gingerbread cough) turned 30 last week.  He's half way to 60, and I'm almost half way to 50... yikes...

I miss my blog...

Well friends...
I guess this is working life...
I hardly cook, clean, or blog.  And not because I don't want to, because believe me, I miss baking a lot.  I want to try pretzels again and maybe this time not suck at it!

However, for right now, this is my view.  My calendar (of which I have two, and somehow still managed to miss a faculty meeting...), my tape and stapler which students always seem to need, and my pencils, which I thought by marking would keep them from being stolen... oh how silly a thought that was...

We went back to Mississippi for Labor Day and had the usual Granny's House fair. Not to mention my dad's smoked tenderloin.  So good! Always tender and delicious! We also managed to meet Tropical Storm Lee head on.  The entire weekend it POURED.  A real "gully warsher" or "frog strangler" if you will.... These are super southern phrases if you are not familiar.  Thankfully we chased the storm all the way back to Florida and didn't see another drop of rain.

However, as soon as we returned it was back to the grind.  I find myself asking every night, how do I teach these kids? How do I get them to care about their education and see their own potential? I hope I am doing everything I should be.  I hope I am not being too hard on them.  I read that I am to keep my standards high, and that some will rise to the occasion.  I just hope they hurry up and rise so I can start sleeping better!

Today I would like to share my recipe for my favorite icing.  I could eat it straight if I knew it wouldn't kill me.  Cream Cheese Icing.  It goes on everything.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1 Stick of butter (and none o' that fake stuff... you know what I mean!)
1 (8 oz.) package of Cream Cheese
A little milk (2-3 tablespoons as needed)
2-3 Cups confectioners sugar
A tiny bit of Vanilla (1 teaspoon or so)

1. Put your cream cheese and butter out till they are room temperature and very soft.

2. Cream the cream cheese and the butter together in a mixer.  Add the vanilla and milk.

3. Start adding your confectioners sugar till it starts to take on the icing consistency.  If it gets to stiff add more milk, if it gets too loose, add more sugar till it's just right.

4. Spread on anything that will hold still and enjoy! Especially some Red Velvet Cake!!

BTW: if you have not read "The Help" I strongly suggest you pick it up. It is a beautiful story, and written by a Jackson, MS native to boot!

I'm Back Friends!

Oh how I missed you! I tell you what, no one tells you how much work your first year as a teacher is going to be.  No one told me I was going to get to work an hour early in the morning and still work till 10:00pm.  I remember in my Harry and Rosemary Wong book, "The First Days of School", how they say "tired" teachers aren't thriving, they're surviving.  Well, no offense to The Wongs, but I think I'm exhausted because I'm leaving it all on the field! I am working hard, and I can feel it!

So late last night, I made myself a treat. Not only because I magically lost 10 lbs. in the first week of school, but also because I deserve it!

Can you guess what it is? My mom used to make this with me all the time.  That's when she would share the secret to soft, chewy cookies...

I just gave it away.  But that's ok.

Look at that silky, buttery, sugar mix! So good!

I shouldn't haven't used this picture... but I thought the shadows made it look a little mysterious!

I have been slacking on the dishes so much since work started... It gets down right crazy... I haven't cooked this little since I was in college.  My poor husband has had to jump in and survive! If he didn't cook, we would have had coffee for dinner and diet pepsi for dessert...

I eat this like it's going out of style... I want to just mix it into ice cream and call it a day!

Thankfully I made it to this point.  Soft, chewy cookies with a cold glass of milk = thank you so much, you worked so hard. These kids have no idea what goes into their education...

I do. 

Chewy Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies (Courtesy of Nestle)

2 ¼ Cups All-purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Cup (2 delightful sticks) butter, softened

¾ Cups granulated sugar

¾ Cups packed brown sugar

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Large eggs

2 Cups (12 oz. Package) of Nestle Toll House Semi-sweet Chocolate Morsels

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels.

6. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for a little over 10 minutes or until golden brown around the bottom and slightly on top. Watch them carefully! If they get too brown you will have crispy cookies instead of chewy!


p.s. Gigi says "Hola!"

Watch out, she might see into your soul with those buggin' eyes!

Mexican Chicken

This is easily my favorite food group, next to chocolate.

I mean, a third of that nutrition pyramid should just be Mexican food...

I am slowly eating my way through the local Mexican restaurants, of which there are many. My favorite so far is a little place called "Los Antojitos".  The name is a type of Mexican street snack to fulfill a craving (so says wikipedia).  And boy does this place do that!  It doesn't look like much from the outside, but don't let that stop you.  The food is super fresh and delicious; try the Carne Asada! 

I kept my red pepper pieces large because I like to see what I'm eating...

Did I mention this meal is cheap? We're newly weds on a budget, taking swings at our student loans and cursing netflix for jacking up their prices...

Beans might as well be free... They are so cheap.  So I will probably be making something else with them someday.  Like Red Beans and Rice, so brace yourself!

It smelled so good when it came out of the oven. I put a whole bunch of cheese on mine... probably too much.  It's a very filling meal, and tastes great with very little work involved.

I dressed it up a bit with sour cream (more cheese) and green onions.  My husband, who is just wasting away, is always standing around waiting for me to get done taking pictures so we can dump more cheese and sour cream on.  

The only thing that's missing is a bowl full of queso and some thin corn chips. I love that. I don't even know I order food at Mexican restaurants... all I do is stuff myself with chips and queso!

Mexican Chicken (courtesy of Allrecipes.com)

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (20 ounce) jar salsa
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

2. Arrange the chicken pieces in a 3 quart casserole dish or a 9x13 inch baking dish.

3. Combine the salsa, red bell pepper, cumin, lemon juice, chili powder and garlic. 

4. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Pour the black beans on top and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.  The last 5 to 10 minutes, I took the aluminum off and put the cheese  on, and continued to bake till the cheese was melted and toasty! Serve with rice if desired.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

It was just one of those days when you want something sweet and simple.  So I made an old favorite.

Some of you might recall the last cupcake debacle... not cool... However, you can now see my "Easter-ish" cupcake cups just waiting. Last time I did not have these...

My good friend Anna (I'm not talking about me... I'm not that crazy yet...) is getting married this December and today we were talking about songs she should play at her wedding.  Songs like:

"Yeah" by Usher 

"Tootsie Roll" by 69 boyz

and basically everything by Journey...

She wants everyone to have "musical whiplash" before the night is done.

Oh, and while I was writing lesson plans today, I tried to work in how I used to wrangle mosquitoes before I began to teach... I don't know why.  I think it's somewhat interesting... and gross... kids like gross stuff right? like the word "poop" and Justin Bieber... 

On that note, take a look at that lovely brown color... I'm kidding...

I'm a sucker for cake batter.  I would eat it all the time if I knew it wouldn't kill me.  I do try to squeeze it in wherever possible.  Actually, I take that back... For my dear friend Anna and the lovely bride's maids dresses she has chosen for us. It must fit!

I really need an ice cream scoop.  That would be the second one I need.  A tiny melon baller one and a legit ice cream scoop... 

3/4 full.  Just like it said.. some might have had more, but that just means they had more cake.  And there is nothing wrong with that.

I think my icing could have been stiffer... but I was in a hurry to stuff my face. 

See how much better they look than last time?? Wow, it's like extreme home makeover edition... I'm just waiting for Ty Pennington to jump out with a bullhorn and say "Move that cupcake wrapper!!!"

Chocolate Cupcakes (Courtesy of Allrecipes.com )

For 16 cupcakes

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk 
• 
  
• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
• 
  
• 2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
• 
  
• 3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.
• 
  

Buttercream Frosting (Courtesy of Joyofbaking.com )

2 Cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons milk or light cream
Food coloring if you desire. 

What Just Happened....

I have no idea how they do it.

I followed the recipe exactly... something you really need to do when baking...

The yeast was doing it's yeasty thing... the water was the right temperature... 

The dough rose out on the porch just like it always does...

I kneaded it, and cut it into 8 pieces... I guess these pretzels were supposed to be Yao Ming sized...

I mean, does that look anything like a pretzel??? It looks more like a twisted dinner roll...

So, I tried again... and again... and again... but that pretzel shape got the best of me... You're supposed to put a "heaping" tablespoon of baking soda in the water before you parboil the pretzels to help them rise.  Well I did that, and they rose alright.  

They were super puffed.  I have been wanting to try this for awhile now.. it seemed so simple.  Yeast, flour, and sugar.  That's it. Deceptively simple...

I forgot the egg wash on the first batch... oh well. Btw, what's up with recipes that call for 1 and 1/2 eggs? How am I supposed to swing that... I had one recently that asked for 1 and 3/4 eggs... say what? I usually just round up....

I remembered it for the second batch... Which though huge, turned out really good!

I didn't have any pretzel salt... but I did have montreal steak seasoning.  So good, and made for great seasoning on these savory pretzel rolls.  Mustard also made for good dipping sauce. 

Another bread under my belt and it feels good... Now to watch violent war movies with my husband... 

Oh the things I do for love.  

Soft Seasoned Pretzels (You can find the recipe at Joy the Baker)