Stress?

When it was time to get ready for bed, myvdaughter started to organize her room. Cleaning isn't necessary, since she keeps her room neat. I asked her why she was organizing and she said she was doing it to relieve stress. My room growing up was messy and I am sure my parents would have liked me to have my daughter's quality. My way to reduce stress is to bake. My daughter's way is less fattening and better for the mind. Sometimes it pays to learn from our children.

I finally did it

I have wanted to learn to make Linzer cookies, so a few years ago my mom gave me the cookie cutters and I found a recipe in a vintage cookbook a friend gave me. Well, the phot below shows that I have learned. So my advice, keep learning and growing.

Banner Day....

Ok, so here is my banner day...
1. Great weekly networking meeting
2. Awesome meeting with my Life Insurance Broker—she aligned her company with a bigger outfit and the services she can offer are extraordinary. I can't wait to see her office next week.
3. Finally made it to the pottery studio to copy the plastic tray of my mom's, so she can have a ceramic version. It has a design to it, but since she reads my blog (thanks, mom), I will not share it now.
4. Got to work on my Personal Productivity workshop—with the aid of Google Docs and voice dictation.
5. Baked dessert for a dinner party Saturday night and made the dough for cookies for brunch on Saturday morning (I already made a batch of different cookies for the brunch).

Now you see why I call it a banner day. Was you day a banner day? If not, try and have one soon.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Brownies:

2 sqs. Unsweetened chocolate

1/4 C Butter

1 C sugar

1 C flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs, well beaten

Melt the butter and chocolate in the top of s double boiler. When slightly cool add the rest of the ingredients.

Peanut Butter Filling:

3/4 C Peanut Butter

1/4 C butter, melted

1/4 C powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until it is all mixed together.

Heat oven to 350. Pour brownie batter into a greased 8" pan. Spoon peanut butter mixture on top. Swirl up and down and back and forth with a knife. Bake for  30-35 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting. Makes 16.

An old adage to reality....

The old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try again." Well, when the first batch of Yorkshire Pudding failed, I made a second that worked. Why one batch and not the other? The oven temp. I failed to realize my recipe was European, so the temperature was Celsius and here in the US we do Fahrenheit. A quick ask to Siri on my phone told me of my mistake and the right temperature. At this time of year, the end that is, often, I think about the mistakes I made and what I learned from them. From this one, I learned that I should I think through what I read before I act on it. What did you learn this year?

GF Sweet Potato Pancakes

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

2 eggs beaten
2 Tbsp. GF Flour
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Wash and grate potatoes. Mix in eggs and flour. Form into large "meatballs" and flatten on cookie sheet. Brush tops with remaining olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with apple sauce or sour cream. Makes 6 pancakes.

(P.S. These pancakes have been an excellent dessert this week.)

In the kitchen on Thursday or not....

For my Thursdays, I post a recipe that I have made recently and well since I had wrist surgery last week, I haven't been cooking and not starving either since I hired a caterer to prepare some meals for me, so my family could eat well (not take-out every night) and I wouldn't have to worry thankfully.

In the Kitchen on Thursday....Oatmeal Pancaks

1 C. Oats
1/2 a medium Banana
2/3 C. Almond Milk (Soy milk or cow's milk)
1 egg.
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Maple Syrup
Oil or vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 350. Blend all ingredients in a Cuisinart or high powered blender (I use my Nutribullit). Grease a muffin top pan. Pour batter until each top is 2/3 full. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve with jam, syrup, butter or other topping. I spread almond butter on mine. Makes 6 pancakes.

A little TLC goes a long way...

In between loads of laundry, a quick grocery shop and making chili for Superbowl Sunday, I was called an "awesome mom" because I made Sylvie baked donuts to have breakfast this week with all the fresh berries in the house because she said she wanted to eat yogurt, berries and granola for breakfast to be healthy which lasted a few days before she got bored.

In the kitchen on Thursday: Healthy Latkes

Baked Sweet Potato and Apple Latkes*

Preheat oven to 400. Grate 2 medium sweet potatoes (aka Yams). Peel half a granny smith apple and grate into the potatoes. Add 1/3 C. oat flour and 2 beaten eggs. Mix all the ingredients together. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and grease with olive oil. Shape mixture into large "meatballs" and flatten on cookie sheet. Brush tops with olive oil. Bake for 15-25 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 12. Latkes can be refrigerated overnight.

(There is no picture because I forgot to take one before I served them and they were devoured.)

In the kitchen on Thursday: A Southern style cake

This recipe originally came from the Betty Crocker website.

Caramel Cake

Cake

1 moist yellow cake mix

1 C. Milk

1/3 Butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

3 eggs

Caramel Frosting

1/2 C. Butter

1 C. Powdered Sugar

1/2 C. Cake batter (reserved)

1/2 C. Evaporated milk

1 tsp. Vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together for the cake. You can use an electric mixer on a low speed or a wooden spoon. When it is all combined, remove 1/2 C. of batter for the icing. Pour the batter into two greased 8" round pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes and allow to cool.

For icing, melt the butter in a 2 qt. saue pot. Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook for several  minutes until the mixture thickens and turns "caramel" colored. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Remove a cake layer from its pan and place on a plate. Ice the top with caramel frosting. Place on top the next layer and ice the top and sides.

I made this from my mother's birthday (she is Southern) and it was gobbled up before I could take a picture. I can say it is really delicious.

Tuesday's Tip....Leftover Halloween candy

If you still have some, cut up chocolate bars or other chocolate candy is a great addition to cookies, brownies or to sprinkle on top of an iced cupcake or layer cake, so get baking.

(P.S. Pass some of your home baked treat to your favorite veteran as a way to thank him/her for their service, since today is Veteran's day.)

In the kitchen on Thursday: Easy Marble Cake

Take one box of yellow or vanilla cake mix and prepare according to package directions. Remove 3/4 C. batter to another bowl and mix with 3 Tbsp. Cocoa powder (I used sweetened powder). Pour 1/2 of "vanilla batter" into a greased Bundt pan. Spoon on the chocolate batter. Pour remaining "vanilla" batter. Using a knife in a back and forth motion, swirl the batter together. Bake at 350 for 35-45 miniutes. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.

Tuesday's Tip: Stuck-on Cake

When baking remember to loosen the sides and bottom of your baked good when still warm, so it easier when cool to loosen it completely.

In the kitchen on Thursday: Banana Walnut Muffins

As easy as peeling a banana....

1 Yellow or Vanilla cake mix
3 medium bananas (very ripe)
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Milk
1/4 C. or 1/3 C. chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350. Mash the Bananas and mix all ingredients together, except the walnuts with an electric mixer for 2-3  minutes. Stir in the nuts. Pour into 12 lined muffin cup pan. Bake for 25-25 minutes. Allow to cool. Can serve warm with butter or cream cheese.

Tip: I take very ripe bananas and freeze them. When I have three I defrost them and make these.

In the Kitchen on Thursday: Sinful Mac n' Cheese

1 box. Ziti Rigate
2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Flour
1 1/2 C. Milk
1/4 lb. American Cheese
1/2 lb. Cheddar Cheese
1 1/4 C. Corn Flake crumbs
1-2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 C. grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

Cook Pasta based on directions on box and drain. Melt butter in sauce pot. Whisk in flour until it is all incorporated. Add in milk and whisk for 2 minutes. Then pour in cheese and whisk until all covered by milk mixture. Place on lid leaving an opening. Let cook until cheese is melted. In the meantime in a bowl mix the crumbs, olive oil and cheese. Toss the pasta with the cheese sauce. Place in an oiled large baking dish. Top with crumbs. Broil for 5-7 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 6-8 servings.

(I almost ate 1/4 of the dish after I made it, so beware.)

In the Kitchen on Thursday: A classic with a twist

When I spoke to the caterer about my families food dislikes, I mentioned tomatoes, and so the vegetable lasagna was sauceless, like a white pizza and in my opinion equally as good as the classic and better than white pizza, a favorite of mine and so, I recommend you try your next veggie lasagna sauceless.

In the kitchen on Thursday: Classic sugar cookies

2 C. flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 C. Butter (1 stick), softened
1 C. Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 C. Milk
1/4 tsp. Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375. Cream softened butter and sugar. Mix in the egg. Mix in the dry ingredients alternating with the milk. Add in the vanilla. Form the dough into a ball and put in the freezer for 30 minutes. Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch and cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets 2" apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool.

(From the Settlement Cookbook originally published in 1903 and last published in 1995.)

In the Kitchen on Thursday: Corny Muffins

1 Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
1 sm. can creamed corn
1 Tbsp. Milk

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased or lined muffin tim. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Makes 6 (and can be doubled for 12).

In the kitchen on Thursday: The Caterer

In anticipation of my wrist surgery, my mother hired her friend, a caterer to make some dinners so no one has to cook, while I am in the beginning stages of recovery and all I can say is "Thanks, Mom!"