Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream - TWD

Way back in August of last year this blueberry ice cream was chosen. It was originally chosen by Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. You can find the recipe HERE or on page 434 in Dorie's cookbook.

I was not part of the group at that time. But last week I found an ice cream maker and decided to practice and use it for the first time with this recipe.

Maybe I shouldn't have got an ice cream maker. I really should be concentrating on my diet and exercising. But...this was really good. It was also fun to make. Ben and Brock loved it and were disappointed that it only made a pint. I assured them that they would have ice cream again within the next 2 weeks. That peach honey choice is going to be good!

Crispy Fish Fingers - CEiMB

Living in Wisconsin....I value a good fish fry. I love going out for dinner on Friday nights and getting a good fish fry (although it doesn't have to be beer battered) with french fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and of course a nice soft marbled rye bread. YUMMY! I was very excited to make these fish sticks when I saw that it had been chosen.

Anne of rainforest recipes chose the Crispy Fish Fingers. You can find the recipe HERE or HERE. Be sure to check out Anne's blog though. She actually lives in a Guatemalan rainforest. I don't think that I could ever do that. OK. I know that I couldn't! I don't even like to go camping longer than 2 days in a row.

I am sure that some of my fellow Ellie pals really enjoyed these fish fingers which have a very healthy spin on them. I just did not! First, I couldn't find any flounder filets at the store. I went with the mix of northern and walleye fillets that my dad had given to us from one of his fishing excursions. Oh, I wish that I hadn't of wasted them on this recipe. I even doubled the recipe because I had close to 2 lbs of fish thawed and didn't want to waste any. Sigh.

I am thinking the reason I didn't like them was due to the whole wheat flour. I thought that they didn't have any flavor and were just bland with a slight nutty taste. Very, very bland. I guess if you are going to eat a fish with breading, it should be deep fried. The one thing good about this recipe though is the mock tartar sauce. It was quite tasty and would taste great with some other fish.

You Capture. Family

Obviously this is not my family. But a family nonetheless! I captured this "family" out and about earlier this week! I tried to get closer but didn't want to get hissed at.

I probably should have made a better attempt to get a picture of my family but all of my guys have been sick around here. In fact at least one of us has been under the weather at one time for the past 2+ weeks. I didn't want to cheat and dig into my archives or more to the point - I hate having my picture taken.

Don't forget to head over to Beth's and check out everyone's You Capture for Family this week.

Anadama Bread

No....I didn't go ahead and join another baking group. Besides, I couldn't if I wanted to because it is already closed. But I had to get in on the action with all these delicious looking breads popping up everywhere.

Working with yeast always intimidates me even though I have been getting better at it over the past year or so. The part that I don't like about making bread is the kneading part. But with my trusty KA mixer and the bread hook I don't really have to worry about kneading a thing.

The first bread that the group made was Anadama Bread. I was intrigued and decided to see if the cookbook was at my library. Low and behold it was there. After looking at the recipe and the ingredients I convinced myself that I could do it. This is a really nice cookbook too! It has lots of intro pages to teach bread bakers. Add to the fact that I have a huge container of cornmeal and molasses left over from various recipes I decided to give it a whirl.


While I made the bread over the course of two days, I told Ben that I felt like I was completing a science experiment. On day 1 you have to mix water and cornmeal and let it soak overnight. On day two, you add the yeast, flour, molasses and other ingredients to get it to rise and eventually bake it. It was quite simple and fun to prepare.

If you are interested...Nicole (who started the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge) posted a fantastic step by step instruction guide with the recipe HERE for this bread. Check it out and try it. The bread is really good and tastes great as a sandwich bread because of the softness.

I think that I may even try the a few more challenges before I have to return the book to the library.

Chipster-Topped Brownies - TWD

I love brownies....I love chocolate chip cookies. Who wouldn't like them layered together? Needless to say I was stoked to make this recipe! They were even made way earlier in the week than I normally make any of my TWD recipes. While preparing them and getting the ingredients ready I wish that I would have thought to halve the recipe though. This makes an insane amount of brownies that only Ben and I ended up eating. The boys didn't seem to enjoy them.

The recipe was chosen by Beth from Supplicious. It can be found on pages 94-95 in Dorie's book as well.

The only modification I did was substitute peanut butter chips for the bittersweet ones in the cookie layer. I also skipped the walnuts. My brownies baked up strange though. The bottom layer of brownies were fine. The problem came in with the cookie layer. While it was baking the top seemed to get very brown and seemed done. However, when I removed it from the oven and let it cool I noticed that it was still very gooey inside after the top cracked. We still ate it but it certainly wasn't done all the way through. And if I would have left it in the oven more to bake I am certain that the cookie layer would have been black.

While this recipe was fun to make I probably wouldn't make try it again. Although we did eat all the brownies, raw or not...they were good.

Creamy Shrimp Alfredo

I am a fan of the Food & Family magazine I receive in the mail from Kraft Foods. They have really good recipes that are easy to make. And the best part is that the ingredients are simple to find. I usually try several of the recipes each time I get the latest in the mail.

This week I tried the shrimp alfredo pasta on page 35. It is made with cream cheese and chicken broth. I used shrimp and peas but think that it would taste fantastic with chicken too.

creamy shrimp alfredo

Prep: 25 minutes

Makes: 4 servings, 1 1/4 cups each

what you need

1/2 lb. linguine, uncooked
2 Tbsp. Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1/2 lb. uncooked deveined peeled medium shrimp
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. (3/4 of 8 oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

make it

Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. or until shrimp turn pink, adding garlic for the last minute. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon; set aside.
Add cream cheese and broth to skillet; cook until cream cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently. Stir in shrimp and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan.
Drain pasta. Add to skillet; toss to coat. Transfer to platter; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and parsley.

You Capture. Sweet

I participated in another You Capture Challenge. The theme for this week was to capture something 'Sweet'.

Beth is the creator of this fun event and her pictures are always awesome. Her "sweet" pictures today do not disappoint either. You have to check them out and also see everyone's pictures. There are some really good ones and always are.

This is a French Brownie I made a couple of weeks ago doing a catch-up for TWD. They were delicious and sweet. Especially with vanilla ice cream. You can find the recipe HERE.

My last picture is of my youngest son, Brady. He was sharing his popcorn with his rubber duckie today at snack.


Does that get any sweeter?

Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Broth - CEiMB

The recipe this week was chosen by The Not So Skinny Kitchen. You can check out her post and find the recipe HERE or HERE. She has some great looking stuff on her blog and I am jealous of her photography skills. All the pictures look great. Something that I have been trying to work harder on.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to make this dish or sit this one out. I am not a huge coconut fan and Ben hates cilantro. I really am not a fan of cilantro either but I can deal with it much better than him. In the end I decided to forge ahead because I skipped the jerk chicken last week.

While I was cooking dinner Ben walked through the kitchen and made a comment that it smelled good. I made no mention of the cilantro and he then proceeded to take a shower while the boys played outside. I quickly cut the cilantro (maybe he wouldn't figure it out?) and then realized that I had gotten coconut juice instead of coconut milk. I decided to use half coconut juice and half 2% milk, which seemed to work. As I was just about finishing up he came back into the kitchen and immediately stated that now the kitchen smelled like a "urinal". He is obviously very honest. I told him to just give it a chance.

I got the dinners plated up and took my pictures. By now the fish is no longer hot...which is probably how all of our dinners are eaten, right? As we are eating he says that it is good but there is some taste to it that he doesn't like. He told me that he thought that it was from the sauce on top of the fish. He really is too smart for his own good. I fessed up and told him that he was eating cilantro. He thinks that it the dinner would have been fantastic if I had skipped the cilantro. I tend to agree.

This was a fantastic meal. I especially liked the sauce and spinach. I served it with brown rice as recommended. Even though I prefer white rice it tasted great with the sauce. However, I agree with Ben and think that I should have skipped the cilantro.

Check out how all the other Ellie fish recipes turned out HERE.

Fresh Mango Bread - TWD

This mango bread was chosen by Kelly of Baking with Boys. You can get the recipe and see how Kelly's turned out HERE. Hers looks much better than mine. I thought that it would be a simple recipe, easy ingredients to get together and be similar to banana or strawberry bread that I make. I was wrong. Well, it was simple to make and the ingredients were all in my cupboards (except for the mango) but it was not similar to banana or strawberry bread.

To begin, my mango didn't even come close to being 1 cup of cubed fruit. More like 3/4 cup. I didn't want to go to the grocery store for another mango so I threw in some fresh raspberries and a little bit of sliced cubed bananas. I baked it for the 90 minutes that it called for and then let it cool overnight.

My results:

Maybe I overbaked mine because it was quite dry. I like moist breads and baked goods. Or maybe I should have covered it with a foil tent. Or it could have been better with the right amount of mango and not raspberries or bananas in the mix. Not sure? Whatever it was.....I wasn't very fond of it and won't be making this one again.

Be sure to check out how everyone else's bread turned out HERE.

Next Tuesday: Chipster Topped Brownies.

Lucky Chicken - Taste & Create

This was my second round of participating in Taste & Create. I was paired up with Fun Foods on a Budget. I enjoyed reading Stephanie's blog while searching for a recipe and laughed when I read that she considers herself "an extreme tightwad". I should take some lessons. There are some really good things on her blog that I have bookmarked and am going to make.

In choosing my choice for T&C I simply couldn't get past the Lucky Chicken. I love Chinese food was excited to make this. And we need a little luck at our house. The. recipe. did. not. disappoint. This was phenomenal! A taste sensation and so much better than any Chinese carryout that I have ever ate in my life. After looking at the recipe and the ingredients I thought that it would take like chicken in BBQ sauce. WRONG! It tastes exactly like sweet/sour chicken. And it is super easy. Especially since I chopped up the ingredients the night before for lunch today.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks
1/2 cup flour with salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Oil (for cooking)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, sliced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

Directions:
Dredge chicken in flour and coat completely.
In large hot pan heat oil and brown chicken. Add vegetables.
Mix melted butter, brown sugar, and ketchup and add to chicken and vegetables.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over steamed or fried rice.

The only modification that I did was to add 20 oz. of chicken and added just a heaping 1/2 cup of onion, green pepper and celery and thinly sliced carrots sticks. And I also added about 1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts to the dish a couple of minutes before removing it from the heat. I served it over white rice with chow mein noodles.

This is a keeper and I have a feeling it will be made over and over again in our house. The Hubster thought that it was as good as I did. Next time I have a craving for Chinese I will be making this easy peasy recipe. Thanks Stephanie and your husband, Jeff!

Now the only question that begs an answer......does this chicken have enough lucky power to help us win Powerball tonight? We'll see.

Snickerdoodles

If you came here looking for jerk chicken with pineapple for Craving Ellie in My Belly you won't find it. I apologize. I looked at the recipe and while it looked good....it required a ton of ingredients that I didn't have on hand and didn't want to purchase this week. I am sure that both myself and The Hubster would have enjoyed it though. I will be back next week.

I made these cookies twice in the past 3 days. They are very good. The recipe is from Martha Stewart's COOKIES cookbook on page 82. I think that they are much better consumed the day of baking though (especially good while still warm). My only complaint is that they seem to dry out quickly, even when stored in airtight containers.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks butter, room temperature)
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into twenty 1 3/4 inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

You Capture. Colors

Since I want to improve my photography skills (if I really even have any?), I thought that this would be fun. Completely un-food related too!

I love reading Beth's blog. She hosts a weekly photography challenge and I thought that I would join in on the fun this week. She did a post earlier this week about Picassa and I have been trying and tinkering around with it. You can really do some fun stuff. So here are some fun pics that I took this morning capturing color.

Check out how others captured color and join in on the fun.

This is quite the mess....but very colorful indeed.

I will really miss these when spring is over.

Tartest Lemon Tart - TWD

Rest assured....even though I don't have any pictures to share, I did make this tart. But not many liked it. My boys and I went to visit my sister this weekend and I forgot my camera. But I did remember to bring my blender, food processor and tart pan though. She doesn't have any baking equipment and I wanted to bake this for her and my mom. OK. I take that back. She does have baking stuff, just very limited baking stuff.

Obviously I didn't read the P&Q very carefully before making this eye popping sour tart. I used the entire lemon, with the exception of the seeds. It. was. very. sour. My kids didn't like it at all. Neither did my sister. I thought that the crust was delicious (I skipped the nuts and made it plain) but wasn't so keen on the lemon filling. Very sour! My mom liked the tart and my sister's boyfriend thought that it was fine.

This was not a tart that I would try again. I do like lemon desserts and think that this would have been fantastic if the tartness would have been tamed down some. Alot some! It was fun to make though.

The recipe was chosen by Babette. You can find the recipe HERE or on page 336 in Dorie's cookbook.

I will be back next week with Mango Bread. And pictures!

Happy Mother's Day

We have a winner!!

Congrats to Megan from My Baking Adventures. You are the winner of a new purse!

The drawing was done fair and square and the winner was drawn by my mom. We put the entries in a bowl and drew the winner.

I will add pictures tomorrow of the drawing, but I am currently out of town and am having problems with my sister's camera. I unfortunately forgot mine at home.

I hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day today.

Garden Risotto - CEiMB

Jessica was the lucky recipe picker this week. Check hers out here (as well as the recipe). I have just recently been introduced to making risotto but have not tried it without mushrooms. And I love peas!

This recipe was easy, flavorful and good. It paired perfectly with the brats that we grilled out tonight too!

Check out all the other risotto dishes HERE.


Don't forget....there are only 2 more days left for the Giveaway!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

I found this recipe at Closet Cooking and it looked fantastic. It is very good and tastes even better the second day as leftovers. I actually doubled the recipe because we were having company. I cooked it in a 9x13 inch pan. It was a ton of food. I will not do that again. 6+ servings are just fine. I also used a rotisierre chicken and served it with chips, guacamole and refried beans. I will be making this one again.
This recipe is really worth trying. FANTASTIC!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole (makes 6+ servings)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1 poblano pepper (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 jalapenos (chopped)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin (toasted and ground)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup of chicken broth
2 cups chicken (cooked and shredded)
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cup corn
1 lime (juice)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
10 corn tortillas
2 cups cheese (grated)

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a pan.
2. Add the onion, red pepper and poblano pepper and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic jalapenos, chili powder and cumin and saute unto fragrant, about a minute.
4. Mix in the flour and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add the chicken broth and simmer until the liquid thickens.
6. Add the chicken, tomatoes, green chilies, milk and oregano and simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and stir in the corn, lime juice, sour cream, cilantro, salt and pepper.
8. Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce over the bottom of an 8 inch square baking pan.
9. Top with a layer formed with 1/2 of the tortillas.
10. Top with a layer of 1/2 of the the sauce.
11. Top with a layer of 1/2 of the the cheese.
12. Top with a layer of the remaining tortillas.
13. Top with a layer of the remaining sauce.
14. Top with a layer of the remaining cheese.
15. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the sides are bubbling and the top is golden brown.

Last but not least....don't forget to enter for the GIVEAWAY!

Tiramisu Cake - TWD

I was super excited about the chosen recipe for today. Megan from My Baking Adventures chose the recipe. I love Megan's blog and faithfully check hers everyday. I love the recipes that she posts and am glad that we "met" each other. Check out how her cake turned out HERE and she also has the actual recipe posted.

This cake is a good one. It was fun to put together and even though I am not a coffee drinker in the slightest, it is delicious. My little guy loved the frosting and of course the chocolate chips on top. I was already a tiramisu fan though. I really liked the yellow cake, the filling and the frosting. The chocolate in the middle is just an added bonus.

Be sure to check out what everyone else did for this recipe. There are some really creative ones from sushi to cupcakes and more cupcakes.

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway for Mother's Day!!

Mother's Day Giveaway

In celebration of Mother's Day next Sunday I am having a giveaway! What am I giving away, you ask?

A purse from my mom's Etsy shop!!

This is such a cute purse and I love that it has pockets inside. Now all you have to decide is if you are going to keep it or give it away to a mom.

Here is the simple way to enter:

1) Visit Flying Needles
2) Leave a comment here telling me your favorite item from her shop
3) Last, if you blog about this giveaway on your blog I will give you an extra entry

I will do the drawing on Saturday, May 9th and announce the winner on Mother's Day next Sunday.

Good luck!