Molasses Crisps with Sweet Potato Buttercream Frosting

Very rich, but delicious, cookie that I baked today to welcome fall! Even though it's not very fall like outside with all of this rain. Sorry, Texas, wish I could send it to you. :(

What you'll need:

• 3/4 c. shortening
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. molasses
• 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. nutmeg

To make these delicious, soft, fall cookies:

1. Cream shortening and brown sugar
2. Stir in egg and molasses and stir well
3. Fold in dry ingredients and stir
4. Cover and chill for 1-2 hours, or until dough is firm
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
6. Take a spoonful of dough and shape into a ball with your hands
7. Roll that dough ball in a little white granulated sugar
8. Place on slightly greased baking pan
9. Bake for 9-10 min.

For the buttercream frosting you'll need:

• 1 c. milk
• 4 Tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4-1/2 can (16 oz.) sweet potato or yam whichever they have it labeled

To make it:

1. Heat flour and milk together over medium low heat, stirring often, until it thickens (about 5 min)
2. Set aside to cool.
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Mix in sweet potato (it should be pre cooked so that it mashes really easily) The frosting will be a little thin and orange-ish.
5. Add in vanille and beat again
6. Finally add in flour and milk mix and mix it really well.
7. I refrigerated my frosting so it would set enough to be spreadable on my cookies.

I could only eat like 3 of these before I was completely full! But they are so good <3

Here are a few pictures of my final result :

Perfectly soft cookies!

Delicious frosting

Welcome to Fall - NOW WHEN WILL THE RAIN LEAVE

Ok so I got all excited about the fall season starting up last weekend when, out of the blue, we went from 95 to 65! It was SO nice. I started busting out the boots from storage, the sweaters from the back of my closet, and the scarves and fall recipes were just making me so happy. I freaking love fall. Every time it comes around, I make more fond memories of apple cider, trips to the pumpkin farm, carving a MILLION pumpkins, and making delicious things with that special fall taste to it. My friend Meryn said it perfectly -

Every time I see pumpkins, all I can think of is how those specific pumpkins aren't actively in my food and how they need to be in my food right now. Those pumpkins need to get in my coffee beverages. They need to get in ALL of my baked goods. Do you see how fat I'm not, pumpkins? Yeah, well, that's gonna change, because it's time to eat ALL of the pumpkins.

Amazing stuff and pretty much my brain waves during this season. Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, here I come. Sweet potato and pumpkin bread? You are on my list. Pumpkin cream cheese frosting on a coffee cake?? YOU'RE MINE. So, to kick off the lovely season (despite the ridiculous amount of rain and muggy heat we are getting on this mid-September day), I am making a batch of Molasses Cookies. Tasty.

Recipe to follow :) My dumb blog will not let me stop writing in bold and italics now. Thanks Meryn's quote!!!

Quesadillas to Celebrate Texas!

Hello again fellow food lovers. I have been out of my mind planning this wedding. It can get so complicated and JUST when you think you have it figured out, there's a new variable thrown in there! I think (hope) I will have the venues picked out by the end of the week. Then I can send out save the dates. :) The engagement pictures are so awesome I can't wait to put them on the save the dates and show them off!!

Here's an example of the one I want to use.

Pretty nice.

So I finally got some time in between my crazy school load and my busy work with the wedding to make some food. I went home to Texas last weekend to scope out venues with Steven's mom and aunt and remembered how much more AWESOME the tortillas are in Texas than here on the east coast. Plus, they're dirt cheap too! So I smuggled two gigantic packs of tortillas home in my bags. Then, I made teriyaki steak quesadillas.
Delicious.
Here's how it's done!

TERIYAKI STEAK QUESADILLAS

• 1/3 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 c. reduced sodium chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. minced fresh gingerroot (or 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger)
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 beef top sirloin steak
• 1/2 c. sliced red onion
• 1/2 c. sliced green bell pepper
• 1 Tbps. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 c. shredded part skim mozarella cheese
• some flour tortillas

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients to make an awesome marinade. Then stick the marinade inside of a resealable plastic bag - then add the steak to it. Let that sit in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. I only did one hour, and it turned out delicious, so it's up to you.

In the meantime, slice those onions and green bell peppers. When it gets close to the end of the marinade time, start a skillet on medium heat with about a Tbsp. of olive oil. Toss in the onions and bell peppers, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until crisp-tender. Take off heat and keep nearby.

When the meat is finished marinading, take the meat out of the bag and put it on the grill for however long you like your steaks. I like mine pretty rare, so it was not on there very long. Reserve 3 Tbsp. of the marinade to put on the filling.

When the steak is done, take it off and cut it up into bite size pieces. Lay a tortilla flat and put some mozzarella cheese on it. Then, layer with some steak pieces, a few onions and peppers, and some more mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a spoon full of the marinade on top of all of that and then seal the deal with a second tortilla. I pan fried mine in olive oil until just browned, but you can also put them on the grill if you want. Slice into six pieces (honestly this part doesn't matter if you just want to eat it whole).

Steven loves his with jalapenos, I like mine with sour cream and salsa. Either way, you have a unique tasting, amazing quesadilla!!

Heading to the Chapel

So... my apologies for the massive break in posts, but something VERY exciting happened on my trip home from Germany! Steven proposed!!!! I know I was excited! His proposal was sooo cute and original and made me laugh. So, tonight, while I am preparing fajitas (Steven's grilling the meat!), I figure I would make a quick sharing post with a few of the juicy details. :)

My flight was delayed a whole day, as you remember, by United for "operational issues". Whatever that means. So that apparently screwed up his plans the first time. When I finally did get to the airport, I didn't even have a seat on the plane. I waited and waited until finally, they called me up as one of the last passengers on the plane. Luckily, I got the very last row of people so I had close access to the toilet and I could recline without bothering anyone. I know most people don't like being by the bathrooms, but I think it was perfect. During the flight, my left contact ripped in half and so I spent most of the flight trying to see out of just one eye. When I landed, I had a headache, couldn't see, was exhausted, and very irritated because of my dumb contact. Plus, when I landed, Steven wasn't even at the airport because I couldn't tell him that I had gotten on an earlier plane! So I meandered through security as slow as I could and tried to call him with my P.O.S. Verizon cell phone reception. Couldn't hold a call... typical. But once I walked out of the security, through customs, etc., I found Steven standing there with his face in a massive bouquet of my favorite flowers!

Little did he know that he had gotten this orange and red pollen ALL OVER HIS FACE!  Haha it was great! He was all dressed up with a face full of pollen. I helped him clean it off and we got to his car. He handed me a wooden heart with a night scene he had burnt into the wood with his own wood burner. It said, "Welcome back Michelle!" It was really cute, and apparently the first clue. I couldn't figure it out the entire drive home - probably because I couldn't even see straight. Then he pretends to miss the exit for home and takes me to the lake where we had Valentines Day this year - whole back story to this too. Then he has me close my eyes by the lake, surrounds me in candles, and has me open my eyes to the next two clues - a wooden horseshoe and a mug that he had hand-drawn a bee on. I could NOT for the life of me figure this out. I was getting frustrated because I couldn't figure it out, when lo and behold, a Maryland family comes up and parks their fishing gear, like, five feet away from us. Totally ruined the mood and they didn't even CARE. Also typical. So we move up onto higher ground and then he had to help me out with the clues:

The wooden heart = "Would"
The little wooden horseshoe = "you"
The mug with the bee = "be"
Then he pulls out the ring for = "my wife"

BUT! He pulls it out upside down!!!! It was adorable - he was so anxious about it he pulled it out upside down. :)
Here are a few pictures of the ring though:

Beautiful!! The perfect ring :) So, this past few weeks have been a little crazy notifying friends and family and starting off the craze that is wedding planning. Tonight, though, I am finally kicking the cooking back in gear with simple fajitas. Simple ingredients: tortillas, lettuce chopped up, tomatoes, avocados, cheese, onions, and some chicken on the grill - mix it all together and you have some easy fajitas. Fast, easy, and totally not a big mess in my kitchen. Perfect for the disaster my house is since I am moving. It's pretty ridiculous. I promise to come back and visit with new recipes soon!!

Thank you United!

So happy Tuesday everyone. Mine was happy this morning when I woke up and went running this morning. I was thinking, "Yes, get one more run in before you have to fly into the 105 degree weather in Maryland tonight." You see, I was supposed to fly home to Maryland tonight at 5 p.m. The transition had already happened in my brain! I was switched from relaxing, enjoyable, cool-weathered Germany, to the month of busy work I have cut out for me back in Maryland. Plus, I was all excited to be back home with Steven and the puppies. HOWEVER... for the first time ever, United let me down!

"Operational" delays have pushed my flight until tomorrow morning. I was hoping to have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to fly all day. That sounds like the perfect day to me. Thanks United, you made my dream come true. So Maryland, we will see each other tomorrow. I am determined to make you fun to live in.

For today's recipe, I found a little twist on chicken that my family loved! From Taste of Home once again (notice a trend here?) comes Lemon-Sage Chicken. I made it when I first arrived here in Germany, and it was a big hit. It takes a little while - but it's not an all day thing. Maybe took me an hour and a half? I don't remember... not too terribly difficult though.

Lemon-Sage Chicken

Their pictures look so beautiful - when I remember to take pictures of my results, I will put them up instead!

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan and Romano cheese blend
• 1 Tbsp. minced parsley
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

SAUCE

• 2 Tbsp. chopped shallot
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c. white wine - I used orange juice as a little sub and it turned out!
• 4-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
• 1 tsp. dried sage leaves
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 3 Tbsp. cold butter, cubed

Flatten chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. In a small bowl, combine eggs, cheese, and seasonings. Place flour in another shallow bowl. Coat chicken in flour, then dip in egg mixture.

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil in batches. Transfer to a greased 15 in. x 10 in. x 1 in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 15-20 min. or until a meat thermometer reads 170.

In drippings, saute shallot until tender. Add garlic and cook 1-2 min. longer. Add wine, lemon juice, herbs and lemon peel. Cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced by half. Add cream and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter just until melted - I used a little less butter than they recommend. Serve sauce with chicken. Voila! 

It was tasty. :)

This has morphed into a recipe/food blog.

Which is a good thing I guess. People like to eat and I like to make delicious recipes. Some are mine, some are definitely not but I think people still would like to know what's delicious out there in this world.

Today is so rainy here in Germany! I ran in between two massive lightning storms doing my little interval training, so I just missed running in the rain. Sometimes I enjoy running in the rain, but definitely not today. I am cold and would rather not be cold and wet. 


I haven't made anything much since the parties last weekend, but I did find that I forgot to mention one tiny Apricot Almond Torte. It tasted pretty good.

This is my last week here in Germany, but I'm ready to go back home. I'm looking forward to seeing my Lou-burger puppy who has been having some serious allergic reactions to an unknown something and is now on steroids. Apparently, she's totally roid-raging and has taken to trying to mount up Steven's smaller boy dog, Kainen. He told me it was the funniest thing he's ever seen because she had no idea what she was doing. Combine that with her fatty appetite on the steroids and unquenchable thirst, and you have Lou on steroids. She'll probably need to take up her favorite activity of terrorizing cats to lose all that steroid weight haha.

Luckily that will all be over when I get back next Tuesday.  I also can't wait to see Steven!! He's promised to take me on a very romantic date night so I am definitely looking forward to it. Plus, I've missed him a lot and he's one of the only people I don't get tired of no matter how much time I spend with him. Awww enough corny stuff - onto recipes!

How it should have looked.

Apricot Almond Torte

From Taste of Home

• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 c. all purpose flour
• 1 c. ground almonds
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped

FROSTING

• 1 pack (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. almond extract (mmmm!)
• 1-1/2 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped
• 1 jar apricot preserves
• 1/2 c. slivered almonds

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thick and yellow. Combine flour, almonds, baking powder, and salt. Gradually fold dry ingredients into egg mixture, alternately with whipped cream. 

Transfer to two greased and floured 9-in round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-28 min, or until the toothpick inserted to center comes out clean.  Cool for a little while in pans, then let cool completely on wire rack. 

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and salt until smooth. Beat in extract and fold in whipped cream. 

Cut cake layers horizontally to make four tiny cake layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate and spread with 1 c. frosting. Top with another cake layer, but this time spread apricot preserves on it. Then the next layer topped with 1 c. frosting, then the final layer, topped with preserves. Frost sides of cake and decorate with almond slivers.

I was tired when I made this cake and ended up forgetting the baking powder until, oh, halfway through baking... so I stirred it in while the cake mix was still in the pans and it turned into a more compact cake. It definitely still tasted good, but I refuse to make this when I'm tired ever again! I couldn't get enough of the frosting. 

So, this weekend we are off to Austria to have ourselves a final weekend of Alpine hikes! I hope the weather is not anywhere near today's. That would be miserable. 

Makin' that Money... one day.

So today's productive venture was to start the big job search for both a part time job for my final (yay!) semester at UMD and also a first career after graduation in December. Somewhere I read that the average number of careers a person holds in their lifetime is seven - which I think is BS. Maybe some people switch careers that many time, but I think they are adding in the part time job changes, which shouldn't count. I could see maybe two or three career changes.. but seven? I guess I'll find out once I enter the "real world" December 22nd.

Hopefully I enter the real world with a good job that I don't hate going to every day. Working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car really made me hate my life. Yes, it was a paying job. However, who wants to wash cars and deal with ghetto angry people in 105 degree weather wearing a business suit? Who wants to work 50-55 hours (or more) per week and barely scrape the poverty line? Not me. Until I enter the real world working in nice air conditioning with nice people, I just bake for parties and other fun things. Here's the latest exciting party platters! If, by some accident, you happen to have been at those parties and loved what I made, please follow and feel free to make all the recipes here!! :)

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Don't hate on the terrible picture. It looked much cooler in person! This recipe is my ultimate favorite from Taste of Home magazine.

• 2-1/2 c. 2% milk
• 1 c. butter, cubed
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2-2/3 c. all purpose flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

FILLING

• 6 Tbsp. butter, cubed
• 4 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 2-1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

GANACHE

• 10 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. heavy whipping cream

In a large saucepan, cook milk, butter, and chocolate chips over low heat until melted. Remove from heat and let it cool for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix eggs and vanilla. Stir in chocolate mixture until smooth. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt and gradually beat into the mixture to make a thin batter. Transfer to three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes depending on your oven. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Then, I suggest moving the layers into a refrigerator to cool REALLY well because this cake is so moist it will fall apart when layers are stacked.

For filling, melt butter and chocolate in saucepan. Then stir in confectioner's sugar and cream until smooth. Let cool until it reaches a spreading consistency. I always put it in the refrigerator for a little bit.

For ganache, put chocolate chips into small bowl. Heat cream just to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a spreading consistency. 

Then assemble - bottom layer, filling, middle layer, filling, top layer, ganache. Spread ganache over top and sides of cake Decorate with sliced strawberries.

For the leaves: find a few mint, lemon, or rose leaves and wash them off. Pat dry. Melt one cup of semi-sweet or white chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp. shortening. With a paintbrush, brush the underside evenly with melted chocolate. Lay chocolate side up on a baking sheet covered with a sheet of wax paper. Chill until set ( about 10 minutes). Apply a second layer of chocolate and again, chill until set. Then, gently peel leaf away from chocolate. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Southwest Chicken Stromboli or Tortilla Roll Ups

Another Taste of Home recipe :)

FILLING:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow pepper, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 c. cooked, shredded chicken breast
• 3/4 c. salsa
• 2/3 c. shredded Mexican 4 Cheese
• 1/2 c. refried beans
• 3/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano

BREAD

• 2-1/2 to 3 c. all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1-1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. (8 oz) sour cream
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk

In a large skillet, saute onions and yellow pepper in oil until crisp tender. Stir in chicken, salsa, cheese, beans, and spices. Heat through then remove from heat and set aside.

For bread, in large bowl, combine 1-1/2 c. flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Heat sour cream, water, and butter to 120 degrees; add to dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed for two minutes. Add egg, 1/2 c. flour, and beat 2 minutes longer. Stir in enough flour to form a firm dough. 

Turn onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. I like to knead it in the bowl. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides. Cover and let rise in warm spot until doubled, about 1-1/2 hr. 

Punch dough down and turn onto floured surface. Roll out into a 14" by 12" rectangle. Spread a mound filling in the center, leaving about 3-4 inches free on the left and right side. Slice one inch wide horizontal strips on either side of filling, only coming in to within 1/2" of where the filling is sitting. Alternating sides, fold strips up and over the filling, creating a braid pattern. Pinch together in the middle, where the strips meet.  Or if you don't want to make a braid, just cover half of the rectangle with filling, coming to within 1/2" of the sides. Fold the empty half over the filled half, pinching seams to seal and folding ends under. Cut slits in the top to make little air holes. Beat egg in small bowl and brush over the top of stromboli. 

Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for five minutes before cutting. Serve with sour cream if you want!

You can also just spread the filling on tortillas, layer with a little cheese, roll up, and bake on an ungreased baking sheet at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Cut into 1-2 inch pieces and serve with sour cream. 

This will make about six servings.