Dragon Cake

My son wanted a Dragon cake for his birthday party. I found this idea on familyfun.go.com. It was pretty easy and turned out really cute! They give complete detailed instructions. The only things I did different is make a chocolate mold for the wings instead of use fruit roll ups. Also I made the mouth open by cutting a section out of the mouth and putting a broken egg shell in the mouth. My intent was to have the mouth breath fire but my vanilla coated sugar cubes wouldn't catch fire. I made the tongue and teeth out of red this candy strips, I'm not sure what they were, and cut them jagged to make them look like a tongue and teeth. My son loved it!!!

Strawberry Cake

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com. It was really tasty! I made it for my son's birthday. He loves strawberries and requested a strawberry cake. My daughter and son decorated the top with strawberries.

2 cups white sugar
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs (room temperature)
2 3/4 cup sifted cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry puree made from frozen sweetened strawberries (I used unsweetened and it still turned out fine)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Blend in vanilla and strawberry puree. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely.

For the frosting I found this one on whatmegansmaking.com and changed it just a bit.
1 stick butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries and juice
2 tablespoons milk

Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 20 seconds. Add the powdered sugar and strawberries. Blend on low speed until the frosting is creamy and of a spreadable consistency. This is where I added some milk to make it a little thinner and easier to spread.

Chicken Pot Pie

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I'm still cooking but just forget to put any new recipes up. My friend here in Texas taught me how to make pie crust. I was so excited when they actually turned out. Then she taught me how to make chicken pot pie from scratch using my new pie crust baking talents! Here's the recipe and if you like chicken pot pie you'll love this!


All the inside fixings! This is good to eat just as a soup. I had to much filling and ate some for lunch



The pot pie before baking!


The potpie after baking and slicing into it!


Chicken Pot Pie
2 chicken breasts boiled and shredded- save the broth
4 potatoes chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
3 carrots-good sized- chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup peas- I use frozen

Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sage
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups broth or water if you didn't save your broth
3/4 cup milk
1 tbs chicken bouillon or 4 cubes
2 tsp parsley


Pie Crust
1 1/8 cup shortening
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
5-10 tbs cold water

This makes enough for a 9x13 casserole dish. I split mine into two pie plates and froze one because the 9x13 is to big for us. First you take your chicken breasts and boil and shred them reserve the broth. Then you boil your potatoes, celery, carrots, and onion. Combine your chicken with your vegetables including your frozen peas.

Next make your sauce. Make a roux with your butter and flour and slowly add your milk. Then add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir until it thickens.
After your sauce is done add your chicken and veggies to your sauce.

Next make your pie crust. Cut your shortening into your flour and salt. Make sure it is well blended. Then add your cold water being careful not to overwork your dough. Then split in half if using a 9x13 dish or into 4 if using two pie pans. Roll out and put into your dish shaping the dough around dish. Place chicken and veggies sauce into dish and then roll out second ball of dough and place on top of pan and chicken mixture. Bake at 350 for one hour. Enjoy!

Hoping to get back to this thing!

Again, it's been awhile! I know for me it's been a crazy year! My husband deployed earlier in the year and this summer we had a new baby! Life is starting to get back to "normal" and I hope to get back to this blog!

So here is my first post in awhile and hopefully not the last for awhile!

This might sound kinda funny but, I don't like eggs. However, I really WANT to like eggs! Every time I smell them when they are being cooked or when I see recipes, I really want to like them! So I am trying to make myself like eggs. Today I set out to make the perfect omelet. I watched many youtube videos and read many articles on making omelets. This is what I came up with today! My husband who does like eggs, and my 8 year old daughter both LOVED the omelets! My husband said "it was a 9 out of 10!" That's pretty good if you ask me! Here are the links to 1 video that I found helpful-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgHgbn_sVUw


To our omelets, I made some homemade hash browns. I made those by peeling and shredding 3 potatoes. I squeezed out the excess liquid from the potatoes in a dish towel.Then I fried them up in some oil with salt and pepper. Probably the most perfect hash browns I have ever made! Then I started to fry up my eggs. I added some Canadian bacon, cheese, salt and pepper and hash browns (to my omelet I added green onion). Cooked the omelet until it was done and served them with sour cream and more cheese sprinkled on top!

Now, how did I feel about my omelet? Did I feel as strongly as my daughter and husband? No. But remember, I DON'T like eggs! I did think it was tasty and I would like to try it again sometime. So, not to bad for a first timer though!

~Sarah T.

It's been too long!

Hello out there to all our faithful followers! It has been too long! I have an excuse!! There is always a good excuse, right? I haven't been doing a lot of cooking/baking lately since my husband left. He was deployed to Iraq last month. So, since the “big eater” in our family is gone, I really struggle with what to cook!





So, I come to you, my friends, for help! What can I make that is healthy, fast and kid friendly? It is really hard to make dinner for myself and my 3 kids! I need your ideas and you recipes!





Also- here is another question for you! As I have said before, I am really into menu planning. My question for you is this- do you have a theme for each night of the week? Example; Taco Tuesday, Breakfast for dinner Wednesday, etc... I have been thinking about this lately and have been trying to figure out some good themes.





There you go! You now have two assignments! Let's see how you do! Thanks everybody!



~Sarah T.

Bread Bowls and Clam Chowder

I already posted the recipe for the Clam Chowder in January '09. This time though I made it, took a picture and even made bread bowls to go with it. It was really good. I got the recipe for the bread bowls from Melskitchencafe.com and used the Artisan bread bowls.

Here's a picture of the final products.

Happy Be-Lated St. Patrick's Day!

I seem to be running behind this year on my holidays! So, just like Valentine's day, St. Patrick's Day is also late for us this year. I hope by Easter, I can get things together! Today, we are eating our traditional St. Patty's Day meal of Corned Beef. For dessert, I made these tasty brownies! I used a brownie recipe I got from my friend Meghan and a frosting recipe I got from here.



Brownies from Meghan-
3/4 c butter
2 c sugar
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c chocolate chips
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in large bowl in microwave. Then add all other ingredients, except for chocolate chips. Mix until smooth. Then stir in 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Pour into a greaed 9x13 pan. Sprikle remainin chocolate chips on top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.


Mint Frosting-
2 c powdered sugar
4 T butter, softened
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 to 2 T milk
green food coloring


Combine all ingredients until smooth. Spread on top of cooled brownies.



Another thing we always eat with our Corned Beef is my father-in-laws mustard sauce. This sauce is great with any meat dish! My husband loves it! And he hates pickles and mustard but, he loves this sauce!


Lin's Mustard Sauce-
Add 1/3 c pickle juice to 2 T mustard. Add 1 heaping cup of mayo. Add more juice if need for desired constistancy.


Enjoy!
~Sarah T.