Oatmeal Coconut Cherry MM Cookies

  
I made these Oatmeal Coconut Cherry MM cookies to round  out my Cherry fest. I saw these cherry MM"s and thought of making Oatmeal cookies with them. Then I saw Monet@Anecdotes and Apple Cores Chewy Coconut Cookies, and decided to add coconut to my oatmeal cookies. These cookies are addicting, with the chewy coconut and oatmeal, along with the cherry MM's. Now these MM's are cherry flavored, not real cherries, but they still taste good.  As you can see in the picture, they are a little larger than regular MM's, and they didn't bake well. The candy shells, that" don't melt in your hand", flake off of the cookies, and don't look pretty.  My hubby didn't care however, because there were more "rejects" for him to eat. Who eats your rejects?  I wouldn't recommend baking with them.  I should have strategically placed more of the MM's on the top of the dough, before the cookies were baked. Chalk this up to "Live and Learn." Do you dunk your cookies in milk, coffee, or tea?

I used my favorite Oatmeal Cookie recipe and added coconut.  You won't be able to stop eating these, so i recommend storing them in a far away place in your pantry, cupboard, or garage, where you don't see them:) Enjoy!

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies Adapted from QuakerOats.com

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3  cups  Oats (quick or old fashioned)  I used old fashioned oats
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs, and vanilla; beat well.
4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
5. Stir in oats and coconut; mix well.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack  

I am linking the recipe to Brandie's Weekend Potluck #7.  Stop by and say Hi to Brandie!

Cinnamon Belgian Waffles with Door County Cherry Sauce

 

When I made the home made Door County Cherry jam, there was about one cup of cherries, plus juice leftover. I was going to make small tarts, but my husband wanted  Belgian waffles with Door County Cherry Sauce, so that's what we made. We had to fight over the cherry sauce though. Believe it or not I had never made waffles from scratch.  These waffles were so light and fluffy, with the touch of cinnamon, and incredibly good. My hubby said that they were the best waffles that he had ever eaten. I think that it was the cherry sauce:)  We will be making these again, maybe with strawberries or peaches, or even blueberries. Can't wait for fresh, summer fruit.

I had to hurry and take this pic before the whipped cream melted!

Usually, when we have pancakes or waffles, we give one to Bailey.  Here is Bailey eating her waffle.  I could never get a picture of her her face.  She inhaled the waffle.

Cinnamon Belgian Waffles Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and butter until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and cinnamon; stir into the buttermilk mixture. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. Fold into the batter. Do not skip this step.  This is what makes the waffles so fluffy and light.
3. Spoon batter onto the hot waffle iron, close, and cook until golden brown. Waffles are usually done when the steam subsides.

Door County Cherry Sauce- Serves 2

·      1 cup Door County Cherries, plus juice. Any other type of cherries may be used

·      1/4 c cold water

·      1 tbsp cornstarch

Place cherries in saucepan and bring to simmer.  Mix cornstarch into cold water and mix well.  Stir in cornstarch mixture into the hot cherries, and continue stirring over medium heat, until thickened.  Pour over waffles or pancakes, and Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cherry Butter Cream Frosting

 Since I now had  made Door County Cherry Jam, (see previous post), I wanted to use it in some recipes.  I decided to make Chocolate Cupcakes topped with Cherry Butter Cream Frosting  and mini chocolate chips to continue my Cherry Fest. You can see the flecks of cherry in this wonderful frosting. These cupcakes are so chocolaty and then you bite into that sweet, creamy frosting, Oh my!  Cherries and strawberries are my all time favorite fruits. Sometimes I have trouble making up my mind.  That's the way Pisces are:)

Well, Here in Chicagoland, we finally have winter, ugh!  It is pretty though.

Chocolate Cupcake Adapted from Cupcake Project

Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 C sugar
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes, or until light and creamy.
3. Add the butter and vanilla and beat on low speed for about 1 minute, or until well blended.
4. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed until blended.
5. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth and well blended.
6. Melt the chocolate (either using a double boiler or in the microwave).
7. Mix the chocolate into the remaining batter.
8. Fill the  12 cupcake liners with the chocolate batter.

Bake at 350 F for about 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops are firm.

Cherry Butter Cream Frosting 

Ingredients

 1/2 c butter, room temperature

2c. powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c more or less milk, or half and half I used almond milk

1 Tbsp Cherry Jam  I used my Door County Jam

Cream butter with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.  Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla, and mix well, Add milk until desired consistency. Stir in jam, until well blended. Pipe or frost cupcakes

I linked up this recipe  to Brandie@The Country Cook's Weekend Potluck #158. Stop by and say Hi!

I also linked this recipe to Lisa' Sweets for a Saturday #58 @Sweet As Sugar Cookies
Stop by and say Hi to Lisa! My cupcakes are #73

Door County Cherry Jam-I Made Jars of Love

I promised you more cherry recipes, and here is another one, a great one! I made Door County Cherry Jam, jars of love, on President's Day, for the first time. I call them Jars of Love, because, you keep a few, but then you give them with love, to your friends. I had made pickles before, but never jam. These are the same kind of cherries that Scott uses for his Door County Cherry Rum Pie. 

Here I am in Carolyn's kitchen.  Do you wear an apron?

I made the jam with my friend, Carolyn, who, makes this jam frequently. We were able to find frozen Door County Cherries at Woodman's, so I was so excited to get them. Then I bought some of those cute little jars, and the low sugar pectin, because these cherries were sweetened. Carolyn's granddaughters were with her for the day, so we had a crowd, but it was so much fun. What a wonderful way for a Foodie to spend the day with friends, making Jars of Love. Thank you Carolyn, for showing me the way to make the jam:)  Scott was so excited when he could open the first jar this morning, and have a Double Cherry Muffin, Cherry muffin with Cherry jam. What could be better??

We still have a few cherries left for more cherry surprises...

Here is my friend Carolyn, in her kitchen.

And here are Anna and Emma, Carolyn's Granddaughters with their Jars of Love.

We used the low sugar pectin for this wonderful jam. 

Sour Cherry Jam with Low Sugar
4 cups prepared fruit (buy about 3 lb. fully ripe sour cherries

1box SURE-JELL Low sugar Fruit Pectin (Pink box)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2tsp. butter or margarine

3 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl 

Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling. 

Chop cherries  in food processor, until finely chopped, not pureed . Measure exactly 5 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-qt. sauce pan.  You will have some leftover chopped cherries:)

Measure exact amount of sugar, 3 cups in a separate bowl . Mix 1/4 c sugar from measured amount, and and 1 box of Sure Jell for Less sugar in a small bowl. 

Stir pectin-sugar mixture  into prepared fruit in sauce pan.  Add butter to reduce foaming and lemon juice. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in remaining sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 

Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly, while pressing thumb down in middle of lid. We did not "can" this jam in a water bath.  Turn jars upside down for 10 min, to help the jars seal. After 10 min., turn jars right side up and let cool for 24 hours. You should hear the lids pop, when they are completely sealed. Enjoy!

Cajun Jambalaya for Mardi Gras, "Fat Tuesday!"

Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, the day before the beginning of Lent, in the Christian world and we try to make something festive for the occasion.  We made Jambalaya, which is a versatile dish that combines cooked rice with a variety of ingredients including tomatoes, onion, green peppers, celery, and almost any kind of meat, poultry or shellfish. The dish varies widely from cook to cook. It's thought that the name derives from the French jambon , meaning "ham," the main ingredient in many of the first jambalayas. We used a recipe from Emeril Lagasse, from the Food Network.

 I am linking up this recipe with Lizzy @That Skinny Chick Can Bake , and the Holiday Blog Group.  Stop by and see Lizzy, and say Hi!

l linked up my recipe to Brandie@The Country Cook's Weekend Potluck #52
 Stop by and say Hi to Brandie!

This version of Jambalaya has chicken. shrimp, and Andouille sausage, rice, along with green pepper, onion, celery, the "Trinity " of Creole cooking, tomatoes, herbs and spices. We used Trader Joe's Smoked Andouille Chicken Sausage in place of the regular Andouille sausage. The whole dish comes together quickly, and is a one dish meal. We doubled the recipe.  You can make this colorful dish as spicy as you want, and it is so delicious with all of the layers of flavor There is even a recipe for Creole Seasoning.

To top off your Mardi Gras celebration, you can make King Cake,  which I made last year, and read about all of the celebrations and the Cake.  Laissez Les Bontemps Rouler, Let. the Good Times Roll! Enjoy!

Now, you could make a Hurricane , or you could make a quasi Hurricane like we did.  We had everything but the 151 Rum.  If I had put in the 151 rum, I wouldn'y be typing now, he he, that's for sure.

Cherry Walnut Muffins, Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

I can not tell a lie. I love cherries, cherries of all kinds, dried, sweet, tart, and dark. My favorite fruit pie is Scott's Door County Cherry Rum Pie. I love Cherries Jubilee, Dark Cherry Hot fudge Sundaes and Cherry Crisp, just to nane a few.  I have never made Cherry Muffins before, so I bought some dried Montmorency cherries, and made these yummy Cherry Walnut Muffins.  These muffins are bursting with loads of cherries and walnuts, and moist from  Greek yogurt, perfect for breakfast or a healthy snack. These muffins baked up beautifully. I can't wait to slather on with Smart Balance, or maybe you would use butter. Any you spread it, the muffins are delicious. So for President's Day make a batch of these yummy muffins.  There are so many cherry recipes, so little time.  I am working on some more delicious cherry recipes for next week. Enjoy!

Cherry Walnut Muffins Adapted from Cooks.com

Ingredients

2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. milk I used Almond milk
1 (6 oz.) carton  Greek yogurt, plain or any flavor

1 c dried cherries

1/2 c chopped walnuts

Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl. Mix egg, oil, milk, and yogurt.   Add to dry ingredients, stirring only enough to moisten. Fold in dried cherries and walnuts,.  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees 20 min or until golden brown.  Remove to rack to cool.
 
I am linking up the recipe to Weekend Potluck #5    Go Say Hi to Brandie at The Country Cook, and tell her "Happy Friday."!

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Coq Au Vin, Julia Child Style

This idea for this blog was born, when I saw Julie and Julia, the movie.  The movie is about Julia Child and Julie Powell,  who aspires to make all of 524 recipes in 365 days, a challenge she described on her popular blog that would make her a published author. Both my husband and I loved the movie.  I came away from the movie with the belief that, if Julie could write blog, so could I, silly me.

My husband, Scott  had been making Coq Au Vin, ( Chicken in Red Wine with Onions, Mushrooms, and Bacon) long before I had met him 12 yrs ago.  It wasn't until  after  we saw the Julie and movie, that he started making Coq Au Vin Julia's way.  You see I gave him Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. and he has made it her way ever since.  Making making Coq Au Vin Julia Child's way, is truly an expression of love, for the time and detail involved in making this wonderful dish.  It was only fitting that Scott made the Coq Au Vin for our Valentine dinner .I couldn't have received a more thoughtful, loving valentine, than the Coq Au Vin  He actually made this on Monday, so all of those wonderful flavors  of the bacon, onions mushrooms, wine and herbs in the wine sauce could intensify and meld in the pot.  This dish is outstanding, and the flavor is beyond belief, it is so good.

The most labor intensive aspects of Julia's recipe are the Brown-Braised onions, and Sauteed Mushrooms.  Do not skip these steps.  These two ingredients give the dish so much depth and flavor.  You can make these  two elements in advance, if needed. He also made the Herb bouquet, which he had never done before.

Scott mostly followed the recipe, except for a few minor changes. He removed the skin from the chicken.  He used dark rum, in place of the cognac, and low sodium chicken stock, in place of beef stock.   Of course, we added carrots, which we love, but are not in the recipe.  We were going to use turkey bacon in place of regular bacon, but it had gone bad. He served it over wide noodles.

We also had this wonderful wine, which was blend of reds, and went so well with the dish.

Heart Shaped Chocolate Cakes with Nutella Ganache

I bet you thought that these yummy Chocolate Hearts were made for Valentine's Day. No, I made these for Tony's birthday, one of our friends. These little babies are chocolate cake with mini chocolate chips, and topped with Nutella Ganache and raspberries. I had a jar of Nutella in the pantry, just begging to be opened.  OK, maybe I had a spoonful, too. Who can resist Nutella?  These birthday treats were a hit at the dinner party.

I used a chocolate cupcake recipe to make four heart shaped cakes with the ledtover batter, I made a few mini cupcakes in cute red foil liners.  

I had taken this picture, and turned my back for a minute, when two of the cupcakes were missing. At least she didn't get the heart shaped cake!  What do think happened?  Do we have a cupcake thief in our midst? Yes, we do and here she is, Bailey.

 Now these were chocolate, but she only ate two, and the red foil liners were lined with paper, so hopefully she is all right.  She seems fine now, and she stole the mini cupcakes Saturday. She has eaten her share of chocolate in the past, Hershey's Kisses, wrappers and all. and mini Snickers.  She is fast, and moves like a stealth. Has your dog ever "stolen" food off of your counter or table? Will I ever learn?

Because of the missing cupcakes I went to Plan B.  I thought I would have to decorate the plate with the heart cake on it.  I would make Raspberry Coulis.  Now I had never made coulis, before, and only seen it in restaurants.  Raspberry Coulis is just raspberries and sugar, whirled with my immersion blender, until pureed. The the puree is then pushed through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, and voila, Raspberry Coulis.  I only had a handfull of raspberries left, but I still got enough coulis to decorate the plate of the birthday boy!

 

***Bakers Note: I used this recipe to make four heart shaped cakes in a heart shaped pans. Spray pans with cooking spray, and dust with cocoa, fill 1/2 way the batter and bake 12-15 min, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool cakes on rack for 10 min, and then remove from pan, and continue to cool on rack.
 

Chocolate Cupcakes Adapted  from Chockylit and Cupcake Project

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Beat butter until softened. 
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. 
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. 
7. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry. 
8. Stir in chocolate chips.
9. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full. ***
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes for regular size, 12-13 min for minis, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

 

Nutella Ganache  Adapted from Cake Duchess

1/4 cup heavy cream

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped  I used dark chocolate chips

3 tablespoons Nutella

 

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat. Make sure to stir occasionally. Remove pan from heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until it is combined. Fold in the Nutella.  Pour over cakes or frost cupcakes.

Pink Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting- Bites of Love

With all of the chocolate recipes floating around the blog recently, a non-chocolate recipe is a welcome sight, right, Christiane?  The cake is Pink Velvet Cake.  You've hear of Red Velvet Cake, well this is the little sister of the Red Velvet Cake, The Pink Velvet Cake has all of the moist, yummy flavor of the Red Velvet Cake, just not all of the color. This cake is pink however, very pink. Pinker than I wanted.  I forgot when I was adding the pink food coloring that it was Wilton paste color in the little jars, and not gel color.  I wanted more of a more subtle pink, and what I got was a bubble gum pink, perfect for a Princess birthday party. On the positive side, however, It would be just the color for the Susan G Komen Walk for the Cure or any other breast cancer fund raising activities, or a very pink Valentine treat!

I made the Pink Velvet Cake into the cute Mini Cupcakes, which are just perfect little "Bites of Love", when you just want a little bit of sweetness. These would be fun to make with your kids, and just add more sprinkles:) Enjoy!

Pink Velvet Mini Cupcakes Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients  about 16 mini cupakes

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon pink paste or gel food coloring
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2cup buttermilk

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and food coloring until
light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking
soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk
beating well after each addition.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for
12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes
out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire
racks to cool completely.


White Chocolate Frosting

3/4 cup white baking chips, or white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
8 tablespoon butter, in pieces
1 c powdered sugar

Directions

Microwave white chocolate and cream in medium bowl on high for 1 1/2 minutes until chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating time. Or you can use, the double boiler method. Stir until white chocolate is completely melted. Cool to room temperature. Beat butter and sugar gradually into cooled mixture on high speed until light and fluffy. May need to add more sugar or cream, till desired consistency.  Pipe or frost cupcakes.  Add sprinkles, if desired.

I am linking up the recipe to Brandie@ The Country Cook's Weekend Potluck#4
Go and say Hi to Brandie, and check out all of the wonderful Recipes,  My Coconut Cream Pie is one of the featured recipes! Yahoo!

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I have also linked up this recipe To Sweets for Saturday! Go say Hi! to Lisa and check out all of the other sweets!

Minestrone Soup-Vegetarian

With all of the Super Bowl food and Valentine baking, we needed some "souper" food. We love soup, and eat a lot it, especially during the winter.  Now even though we are having a mild winter, compared to previous years, it is still damp and chilly.  There's nothing like a bowl of soup to warm your body and soul. I am always looking for new recipes, and when I saw this Minestrone Soup on  Gina's blog  SP CookieQueen,  I knew that we had to make this one. Actually, Scott made this, when I was out running errands.

Now, if you click on Gina's link, Scott's looks somewhat different.  I had ditalini in a bag, but he couldn't find it in the pantry, so he used broken linguine. Does that tell you that we have a lot of pasta, or that he is man?  Because, he used a larger sized pasta, the pasta may have soaked up some of the soup, even though he cooked the pasta first. So Scott added a can of diced tomatoes, which helped make more soup. Also, I didn't have any vegetable stock, so the "chef", made his own.  I shouldn't tease him, right,  he made this wonderful soup This soup was so good and healthy, with all of the zucchini, carrots, celery, tomatoes, beans, and spinach. Scott would never eat cooked spinach, because it was "slimy", but he loves it in this soup. Unfortunately, I didn't have any San Marzano tomatoes in my pantry. This recipe  makes a lot, so you can have some for dinner and  lunches, or freeze for later.We will definitely be making this again. Enjoy!

Scott's Baked Honey Lime Wings with a Kick

 Super Bowl Sunday at 9AM my Husband, Scott, decided that he wanted to make wings to take to our neighbor's party.  I had planned on making Jalapeno Popper Dip, but cast that idea aside. He went to the store and got all of the items that we didn't have. These wings are healthy because he painstakingly removed the skin from the wings, cut off the wing tips, and also baked them. He also marinated them in a marinade of white wine, lime juice, lemon juice, honey, garlic, chopped cilantro, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.  Initially he was just going to bake the wings with the marinade, but then decided to brush them with BBQ sauce at the end of baking.

These wings are exquisite, crunchy, with touch of sweetness, and  moderate heat The meat was baked not fried,  and stayed stayed moist. There was no greasy fatty taste at all. Scott didn't think that they were hot, but I did.  If you don't like a lot of heat, don't add the red pepper flakes, or use a spicy BBQ sauce.  We used Trader Joe's All Natural BBQ sauce, which seems pretty spicy to me. We didn't have time to make our own sauce, but feel free to make your own. The wings disappeared very quickly at the party. You won't be disappointed if you make these for your next gathering. Enjoy!

Scott’s Baked Honey Lime Wings with a Kick

Ingredients

20 chicken wings, tips cut off, and disjointed

Marinade

1 1/2 c dry white wine

Juice and zest of 1 lime

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp honey

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, more or less depending on taste

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce

Combine all ingredients, except for the BBQ sauce in plastic bag, close, and shake well to combine. Add wings and refrigerate for 4 hours, turning every hour. Remove wings from marinade.

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

Arrange wings on large jelly roll pan, 17x10x1, covered with foil, and foil sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 15 min .per side .Increase oven to 425 degrees

Coat one side of the wings with your favorite BBQ Sauce, home made or out of the bottle, doesn’t matter, (We used Trader Joe’s All Natural  BBQ Sauce)

Return to the oven for 10 min. Turn wings over and coat the other side with the BBQ sauce, and return to oven for an additional 10 min. Remove from oven and keep warm until serving.

ChocolateLove: Fudgy Brownie with Dark Chocolate Ganache

February is #chocolatelove month. #chocolatelove is a blog hop with an amazing group of bloggers, who are co-hosting.  Please join in on the #chocolatelove fun by linking up any choclate recipe from the month of February 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event! The twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove :).


I have several heart shaped pans in various sizes, but I used this one to make a fudgy brownie with dark chocolate chips, as well as baking baking chocolate.  Then the brownie is topped with Dark Chocolate Ganache and piped with white chocolate. This is truly a chocoholic's delight, and perfect for Valentine's Day!

Fudge Brownies Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

2 squares, (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp .vanilla

3/4 c. AP Flour

1/2 dark or semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Fudge Brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line a 8x8x2 pan or use a heart cake pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, edges overlapping. Melt butter and chocolate.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar.  Add eggs, and vanilla.  Beat lightly until just combined.  Stir in flour and mix well. Stir chocolate chips into batter. Spread batter in pan.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.  Do not over bake. Cool on rack. Remove brownie from pan, and place on rack.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

6 oz. dark or semisweet baking chocolate, chopped or chocolate chips

3/4 c heavy cream

Here are my amazing co-hosts:

Place chocolate in medium bowl, Heat cream until simmering. Pour over chocolate in bowl. Stir chocolate until chocolate is evenly melted. Allow to cool and thicken.  Pour over brownie or cake starting in the middle, and spread out toward the edges.  Cool completely until the Ganache is set.  Pipe with White Chocolate Frosting

White Chocolate Frosting

1 1/3 c chopped white chocolate

1/3 c heavy cream

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Place white chocolate in medium bowl, Heat cream until simmering. Pour over  white chocolate in bowl. Stir white chocolate until evenly melted. Gradually add powdered sugar to white chocolate mixture until piping consistency.  Place frosting in piping bag or a plastic bag with the corner snipped off.

Here are my amazing co-hosts:

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan

Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl

Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins

Baking Extravaganza ~ Samantha

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue

Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella22

Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf

Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies

Elephant Eats ~ Amy

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19

Java Cupcake ~ Betsey ~ @JavaCupcake

Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica

Mike's Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Preheat the Oven ~ Jason ~ @officialchefjae

Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal

The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

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Mini Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream for Baby Levi

Almost a month go, I had a friend who passed away. His wife, and my friend,  had passed away 8 yrs ago from a brain tumor. Now this couple have two daughters, One of the sisters lives here.  The oldest daughter lives out West,, and was almost 9 mos. pregnant, when her father passed away, unexpectedly. She was able to fly home for the services. but as the time progressed , she was not able to fly back to her home.  She thought that would only be a couple of weeks, but Baby Levi had other ideas.  It wasn't until yesterday that Baby Levi made his appearance into the world. Welcome Baby Levi!

What would any Foodie do to celebrate the birth of a new baby? That's right, bake mini cupcakes. Now, I've never made cupcakes to celebrate the birth of a new baby boy , but I was pretty sure that I could find some pretty Baby Blue cupcake liners and cupcake decorations. Wrong! Now, I hadn't  planned ahead  to order them online.  I did find a package of blue cars, and blue liners with yellow duckies, but that wasn't what I had thought that I would find. I did find blue sugar. There were plenty of cute pink liners and decorations, but not so much for blue.

These Vanilla cupcakes have sour cream in them and have moist,  tender cake.  Paired with Vanilla Butter Cream frosting, they taste so good, perfect for a new baby celebration.!

Vanilla  Cupcake Recipe Adapted from Cupcake Project

 Ingredients: Makes 30 mini or 12 regular sized cupcakes

• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 C sugar
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 C sour cream

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes, or until light and creamy.
3. Add the butter and vanilla and beat on low speed for about 1 minute, or until well blended.
4. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed until blended.
5. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth and well blended.
6. Fill mini cupcake liners about halfway full.
7. Bake at 350 F for about 14 minutes for mini, 23 min. for regular size, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops are firm.

 

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 c butter, room temperature

2c. powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c more or less milk, or half and half I used almond milk

Cream butter with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.  Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla, and mix well, Add milk until desired consistency. Pipe or frost cupcakes

Coconut Cream Pie

 

I  love Coconut Cream Pie, but I had never made one, until last weekend.  I made it for my BFF's belated birthday. Coconut Cream Pie is her her favorite pie. The pie was a collaborative effort, because my hubby wanted to make the crust, so I let him.  I made the filling and the fresh whipped cream. This pie was amazing with toasted coconut in the rich coconut custard filling, made with milk, coconut milk, egg yolks, and topped with fresh made luscious whipped cream.  It has been a long time since I had eaten real whipped cream.  It was like diving into fluffy clouds. topped with more toasted coconut. I can honestly say this is the best cream pie that I have ever eaten. This pie however is is not low cal or healthy, but it is so good.  Everything in moderation.  I got the recipe from Claudia What's Cookin' Italian Style Cuisine.  Thank you Claudia. I pretty much followed her recipe for the filling, except for the vanilla liqueur, which I didn't have.  I just used vanilla extract.  Also, my husband used a recipe from Brown Eyed Baker for the pie crust, which was delicious. Enjoy!

This would be a perfect Valentine treat, if your Sweetie or family are coconut lovers.  You have to like coconut to enjoy this pie, because it has so much rich, coconut flavor. but for coconut lovers, this pie is a slice of heaven.

Coconut Cream Pie Adapted from Claudia@What’s Cookin’ Italian Style

 Toast coconut first set aside....see instructions below***
3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
5 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut toasted**
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or French Vanilla Liqueur... Godiva
(I pour more over the top after chilling, about 1 tablespoon.....
1 tablespoon butter
1 (9-inch) baked pie shell
1/3 cup toasted coconut Whipped cream( real heavy cream), for topping

Pie Crust: from Brown Eyed Baker

Directions:
In a nonstick 1-quart saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar, coconut milk, and 1 cup milk. Scald mixture, cooking over medium heat, just until little bubbles form along the edge of the pan, not boiling.. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch together to make a slurry. Whisk egg yolks with salt in medium bowl. Temper yolks by adding 1/2 cup scaled milk mixture to yolks and whisk well. Add yolk mixture, cornstarch mixture, and put back into milk mixture and whisk vigorously over medium heat until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut, vanilla, and butter. Whisk until uniformly incorporated. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Chill the pie completely, about 2 hours.
Note
*** To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally Watch carefully, because it will burn quickly. To serve, top with toasted coconut and top of whipped cream.

I am linking this recipe to Weekend Potluck @The Country Cook with Brandie.  Stop by and say Hi! to Brandie, and link up your recipe,

Now my Coconut Cream Pie was featured on Weekend Potluck#4! @ Brandie'sThe Country Cook Yahoo! Check it out!