Look for the signs!

~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

I am a firm believer of everything happens for a reason and there is no such thing as a coincidence. There are little signs everywhere (each and every day) that sometimes we see and most of the times we don’t. Then out of left field (at least that’s how most of us feel … right?) this huge sign drops out of nowhere and hits us like a ton of bricks. What’s the saying? Hindsight is 20/20? Looking back we can somehow connect all the little signs that lead up to these huge events, but we often aren’t seeing them in the moment.

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My loves on their first day of school! 2nd and 6th grade.

I had every intention last night to race through the evening to get everything done so that when my girls came home from karate and soccer I could hear all about their first day of school with all my attention just on them. Daddy was picking them up and I was cooking dinner, I had it all mapped out in my head. I had decided that while the chicken was cooking I would make a box of brownies and doctor them up with an amazing topping – quick and easy, and a blog post entry. Only as I was reaching for the measuring cup to add my water to the bowl that already contained the eggs, oil and bag of mix … it fell into the sink full of soapy water. GAH! There is no coming back from that. You can’t discretely fix that mistake! So, I cleaned up my mess and thought, well it just wasn’t in the cards to make this box of brownies tonight. I finished making supper and had great stories to listen to while we ate dinner as a family after their first day of school, and I was thankful.

IMG_0884Later on that evening, I decided that I needed to unwind and clear my head. For me baking is my zen, I get in a mindless groove and create scrumptious goodies for others. Bringing a smile to someones face and knowing that even if for only a few moments they get to forget about what ails them, then my job is done. I took out my trusty Betty Crocker’s Cookbook from the 70s (?) and dug out her brownie recipe. I figured if I had all the ingredients to make brownies from scratch then that is why my bowl of mix dumped. That was my sign. As I have said before, if you have quality pre-made items, USE THEM! Don’t feel like you HAVE to do everything homemade … just make sure it’s made with LOVE.

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Betty Crocker’s Recipe

Brownie Ingredients:
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/4 c. AP flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 x 9 pan. Melt chocolate and shortening in a small pan on the stove over low heat. Stir constantly. Remove pan and pour mixture into a large bowl. Add in sugar, eggs and almond extract. Blend together until eggs and sugar are combined. Add in remaining ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 30 mins. or until batter has just left the sides of the pan and the top is dull looking. Do not over bake.

IMG_0885Digging through the cupboards I found I only had two cubes of unsweetened chocolate, but never fear, good ol’ Betty has the answer to everything! I just used the additional quantity in unsweetened cocoa powder and shortening – voila, problem solved.  So I whipped up a batch of Betty’s brownies with a small tweek. I used almond extract instead of pure vanilla as I was making an Almond Joy topping for my brownies! Once the brownies were cooked and cooling I started on the yummy topping!

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IMG_0889In a medium bowl I mixed 2 cups of shredded sweetened coconut, 1 cup of almonds, 1 cup of mini chocolate chips and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. Can we just take a moment to relish in how amazing sweetened condensed milk is? There are two things that come from cans that I can lick the spoon after … sweetened condensed milk and tomato paste (weird … I know). Once it is all mixed, try not eat it all before you spread this gooey deliciousness onto the brownies!IMG_0890

IMG_0891You can cheat and not wait for the brownies to cool before spreading this on top, but be sure to remember that the mixture is thick and spreads rough. Then just stick them in the fridge (so the chips don’t melt) to cool. These are sinfully rich. I was able to cut mine into 32 squares easily. ENJOY!

 

Versatility – Zucchini Bread with a Twist

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

IMG_0867Versatile … any food that you can use in a sweet or savory dish is a blessing. Many times I have had a dish in mind to make and then life gets in the way … it’s either make something quick or waste food. My original dish idea isn’t always an option at this point – especially when may not have a lot of time on my hands.

A co-worker bestowed upon me a good size zucchini that she didn’t want to go to waste as she was leaving town this weekend. My kids don’t like zucchini, but I do! I love it drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic salt and put on the grill or steamed with butter, salt and pepper, and even on kabobs or in a gratin – it can be eaten so many ways and they are all delicious!

Life has been slightly stressful the past two weeks – as evident by the patch of shingles I am now blessed with (this is my second time with them and I am less of a fan this time than last time). So, I decided to break out some ingredients and go to my happy place to destress – BAKING! When life starts to get the better of me and I need something to ground me and bring me back to the happy in my life, nothing does that better than using my hands to create something delicious. The feel of my hands getting dirty in a good way, the aromas that increase with each added ingredient and the instant gratification when those ingredients come together to form a batch of goodness; what isn’t to love?

IMG_0857Ingredients:
3 1/4 c. AP flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. water
2 c. grated zucchini
1 tsp. lemon juice
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 c. chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
IMG_0859In lg. bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon & sugar.

IMG_0858In separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini, lemon juice & zest.

IMG_0860Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts & fold in.
IMG_0861Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes. I always put my loaf pans onto a sheet tray of some sort, just in case. It is much easier to scrub a pan than clean the bottom of an oven!
IMG_0862This bread is so moist and delicious. The spices give it just a little warmth. IMG_0863I chose to top one with homemade cream cheese icing (the twist) and leave one plain. I can easily use this a breakfast/brunch item, a snack item or dessert – VERSATILE, just like the zucchini itself. IMG_0866

Memories

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment
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Me and my daddy

I love having deja vu! It is a sometimes frustrating event – trying to figure out when this moment in time happened the first time. Usually, however, I love the thought that this moment was so great the first time that I get to relive it a SECOND TIME, or that possibly I missed something important the first time so I get a chance to catch it the second time around.  Anything can trigger these moments – a song, a word, a smell, a feel … something so small can bring back such HUGE emotions and feelings of a time before.

Reliving moments in my life can sometimes be bitter-sweet, like losing my dad when he was only 34 and I was only 6. I think of him daily without fail, though sometimes it is because I will hear a song or smell something and I am taken back in time – back to the few years that I had with him. I often wonder what life would be like if he were still alive – how different things would be. I know that even though he is not physically here with me he is watching over me and my girls, and that he hasn’t missed a moment.

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Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Food has always had a way of transporting me to another time and place, invoking memories of delicious dishes I have eaten or the people who have made them. My mom always made what I now know are called Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies (us kids just called them peanut butter kiss cookies). For the longest time I thought Hershey Kisses only came out around Christmastime, because that is when she made them. My Grama Berta always made celery stuffed with cheese for the holidays and family dinners, and my brothers and I still look for it on the table at holidays. My Grama (my mom’s mom) always makes broccoli casserole, which I love and still request. My girls always ask their Grammy to make sweet potato souffle for holiday dinners, and with me it’s my Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies.

When people speak of traditions in their families, I think many times we don’t include the food that is made. Whatever the reason for coming together – a holiday, a wedding, a death, a birthday – we include food. Some of these dishes are passed down from generation to generation – a near and dear family recipe, or something we stumbled across or made on a whim and fell in love with. The food we make will help create memories for the ones we love and bring them back in time, reliving memories, keeping traditions alive and sometimes even creating some new ones.

Downeast Delicacy

~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

IMG_0834Blueberries are bountiful in Maine, especially Downeast. When I travel home down on Route 9, I am constantly in awe with the beauty of the blueberry barrens. With the last of my fresh blueberries from the Route 9 area I made an open face pie and treated my co-workers to some sweet semi-homemade deliciousness.

Semi-homemade you say? YES! There is only one area in life that I condone, and sometimes even encourage, cheating! That is when it comes to the kitchen. There is no shame in utilizing a quality pre-made product. I am a mom of two girls, I work full time, the girls have karate 2-3 times per week … the list goes on and on. Doesn’t it for everyone? I don’t always have time to knock out a pie crust or batch of brownies, but I will spruce it up and make it my own by adding homemade components.

I hear over and over again how people don’t have time to bake. I get that andIMG_0829 fully understand it. I think with baking people feel it’s not okay to use a pre-made pie crust or a box of brownie or cake mix, but we don’t always have this mind set with cooking. Sometimes I want an easier and sometimes faster way to make something yummy. I have NO SHAME in this EVER!

Pie Crust:
IMG_0830Use your favorite recipe or use store bought. Make sure to blind bake your crust. Once I line my pie plate with the crust and crimp the edges, I line my pie with parchment paper and fill it with beans (that I re-use) to weight the crust down. This ensures that the crust doesn’t shrink down the sides of the pie plate and keeps it from bubbling up all around, since I don’t want to prick the bottom of the crust.

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I bake the pie crust following the directions on the box for the oven temp., however, I rarely use a timer. Once I start smelling the heavenly scent of toasted butter, I know my crust is just about ready! While the crust is baking, I prepare my filling.

 

Pie Filling Ingredients:
You can substitute any frozen or fresh berry for this type of open-face pie.
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups blueberries

IMG_0833In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon zest and juice until smooth. Add blueberries and stir gently. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until it has thickened. It should coat the back of a spoon, and you should be able to run your finger through the mixture and have the line stay. (CAREFUL, mixture will be HOT). Once the pie crust is baked add this mixture slowly and gently into it. Let pie cool before serving.

IMG_0835I added homemade whipped cream to this pie just before serving. I hope you enjoy this pie as much as my co-workers did. It was gone shortly after it was brought in! (Note the pie plate is for a cherry pie – oh well!)

 

 

Simple, but key ingredients.

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

imagesWhenever I stumble across a recipe that I fall in love with, there is usually one ingredient that makes me say, “Wow, using that made a difference.” For instance, I don’t drink coffee and I never have. Seeing that many dessert recipes that are chocolate based used hot coffee to melt the chocolate or had espresso powder in the batter, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I mean, I don’t drink coffee or like the taste of it, so why on earth would I put it in my dessert? Well, I had been doing it wrong for so long! I finally tried it when it came to making a Pot du Creme. I had such a new love for how coffee really does enhance the chocolate flavor.

There are so many basic ingredients that enhance the flavor of what we eat tangerine-19062_640without us even knowing it or giving it much thought! For example, berries are so much brighter in flavor with some lemon or orange zest and some fresh squeezed juice of either added to them. Many sauces that adorn your dish when eating in a restaurant “finish” that sauce with a some butter to give it a glossy shine, a rich flavor and even at times to thicken.

a-glass-salt-shaker-100311902Many people also overlook salt. I understand that people have diets that require them to reduce salt intake or remove it completely from their diets, however, if that isn’t you, then don’t skimp on seasonings, especially salt! There are many dishes I make that I season throughout with salt. It may be that I am sweating down or caramelizing vegetable, and then I will season the protein that goes into the vegetables, and finally the sauce that will go onto the protein and vegetables. Many think that this may create a dish that is too salty. The key is knowing how much salt to put in at each stage so that it doesn’t overpower the dish. Salt is just as essential to many baking recipes as it is for cooking recipes. Adding a touch of salt to many dishes gives it just what is needed to bring out the best in the dish.

There are hidden surprises in many dishes we know and love, and sometimes they are not so hidden; regardless, never under estimate a simple ingredient, as it just might be your key to success.

Summer + Maine = Blueberries

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment
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Blueberry Coffee Cake

A friend gave me some Wild Maine Blueberries – 4 pints to be exact. I knew right away that I would make PIE, but I also LOVE coffee cake. If done right, it is tender and moist, and mouthwateringly delicious. So, I started looking online for a good recipe and decided to try out Ree Drummond’s Blueberry Coffee Cake (Original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/blueberry-coffee-cake.html). I have to say, I normally default to someone on the Food Network and/or Cooking Channel;  I could watch the Food Network and Cooking channels all day long if I left myself.

I find the more simple the ingredients the better the taste, and it is always easier to make something if I don’t have to run out and buy special ingredients. I laugh often when a friend will ask me for a recipe and I start the answer with, “It’s so easy … ” They never believe me, but it’s true. If a recipe is too complicated and takes a ton of time to make, I won’t make it. The truth is I just don’t have time, not that it isn’t a recipe worth making or won’t taste amazing, but I just don’t have time. I usually bake late at night after everyone has gone to bed and it is just me and my mixer. Many sleepless nights are filled with heavenly aromas, beaters for licking and treats for my family, co-workers and friends.

This recipe had ingredients I already had on hand (thanks to my friend I even had FRESH blueberries) so it was a no brainer. This recipe will definitely get added to my stash at home, as my daughters were begging for seconds!

Ingredients List for Cake:
5 tbsps. unsalted butter, softened – Ree’s recipe calls for salted butter
2 c. AP flour
2 heaping tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 lg. egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract – high quality if possible, it really does make a difference
3/4 c. milk – I used skim
2 c. fresh blueberries

Ingredients List for Topping:
1/2 c. AP flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
6 tbsp. unsalted butter – Ree’s recipe calls for salted butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Directions for the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 in. baking pan with butter or shortening. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon & salt to a medium bowl & stir to combine. Set aside. Cream together butter & sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg & vanilla; mix until just combined. Add dry mixture that you set aside & milk, alternating, & mix until totally incorporated. DO NOT OVER BEAT or your coffee cake won’t be crumbly and tender. Stir in the blueberries until evenly distributed. Pour batter into prepared pan and gently smooth out to reach sides of pan.

Directions for the topping: Combine flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon & salt in a medium bowl & cut together using a pastry cutter. I used my fingers to combined, which gave me a smaller crumb topping. Sprinkle over the top of the batter.

Bake 40-45 mins. or until cake is golden brown. Often oven temps. and times will vary, so I suggest using the light in your oven to check on the coffee cake around 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and ENJOY!

Get your fat pants ready!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment
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I love this sign! Every time I bring something into work, someones groans and says, “I am on a diet, I should be good.” Then they smile and take what I am offering, and they don’t regret that they did.

I have always had a passion for baking, which was instilled in me at a very young age. There is nothing I love more than to work with my hands and share a little piece of my heart every time I bake. Baking is my happy place. I am a firm believer that Grama’s always tastes better because it was made with love, and I tell that to my girls when they eat something delicious I have made – It was made with love.

I am fortunate to have grown up in a family that loves to cook and to EAT! It is in my blood on both sides of my family. I hope to share with you the love that I have for baking and of course eating!