Molasses + Banana + Chocolate = Bomb

And that's not as in "da bomb!" either. I thought I'd get clever, as I've had a very good streak with new recipes lately. I made brownies, but I was out of eggs, and am trying to cut down on refined white sugar. So I used bananas as an egg replacement, and molasses to replace part of the sugar. Well it is possible that one or the other of these two substitutions would work, but together they dive bomb.... I guess those two are too strong and contradictory to work together. In any case it was CERTAINLY unique lol! Oh well, it was worth a shot trying to improve the nutritional value of a dessert. I think I'll take a crack at banana bread this weekend......

St. Patty's Day Cookies

Nice and lemon-y for spring! I actually just added the lemon and vanilla flavourings to taste, so the measurements are approximate. If you use food colour, just add a bit and mix well, adding more as you need to. It's easier to fix a colour that's too light than one that's too dark! For an extra "oomf", take some granulated sugar, add a few drops of lemon flavouring and food colour, and combine well, using your fingers. It will take patience, and you will have to stir it every so often as it dries.

Cookies:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract or flavoring
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or flavoring
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups flour

Cream the butter and sugar together
Add the salt, extracts, and yolk, and combine well
Slowly add the flour, combining well
If desired, colour the dough
Roll into 1/2 inch balls, and place on a greased and floured cookie sheet
Bake at 325 degrees 7 minutes or till done


Frosting

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 tb Cognac (or Whiskey!)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar

In a pan, combine the sugar and flour thoroughly (this is pretty important)
Then whisk in the milk (gradually) and Cognac
Heat over medium heat until boiling
Boil for about 2 minutes, whisking constantly
It will get really thick, and sort of weird looking
Remove from the heat and allow to cool (at least an hour)
Once the mixture is at least room temperature (or a bit below), beat the butter until light
Add the flour mixture, and combine well, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often
Add the extracts (I really think I used more lemon extract than what I listed in the recipe; just do it "to taste")
Add the powdered sugar a bit at a time, again to taste

If you put this in the fridge, it will get fairly firm. If you want to use it after refrigeration, just pull it out about an hour before you wish to use it :)


This is the flour/sugar mixture. Right here, it smells REALLY sort of strange, and I was worried that my addition of Cognac was a mistake. Thankfully the Cognac just completed the frosting nicely!


This is after I coloured the frosting, and left it in the fridge overnight. That knife is not moving.

Free Breadcrumbs Haha!

I love making my own breadcrumbs. I know exactly what's in them, and I can control the seasonings :) The smell they add to the kitchen while they are baking is just heavenly.

So just for the heck of it, I took photos :)

When you make bread crumbs, just use whatever bread you have that's about to go bad, or in our case use some hot-dog buns your inlaws gave you because they were left over from a benefit ;)

First, I just coarsly chopped the buns. You are going to crush them up a bit after you toast them, so don't worry about getting them too fine.



Then, I just took about a tablespoon and a half (the leftovers from a stick of butter; the amount of butter doesn't matter, you will of course get more or less buttery taste depending on how much you use)

Here I melted it then tossed it with the breadcrumbs well, along with a light sprinkling of salt.





Once you have your own, home-made buttery crumbs, you can do several things with them. Use them in meatloaf and meatballs of course, or season them and use as a crunchy coating! You can even go one step farther and bake your own multi-grain bread to use as crumbs.

... Then Somehow This Apron Resulted...

I don't know WHAT possessed me to try it, but I wanted a bib apron, and I didn't want to follow a pattern. Have I mentioned that I have rarely sewn in my life?! But, somehow I made this thing. Even took pics along the way!

First, I took a piece of an old soda box (yep, I like Shasta cola!) and held it up to me and trimmed it up until it was approximatly the size I wanted it. I know the sides aren't straight, but thanks to the very regular pattern of dots on my material, I just used those as a cutting/folding/gluing/sewing guide.


Then, I just held up another piece of the fabric to myself and marked (with a marker lol) how wide and how long I wanted the skirt part, adding an inch or two for seams.

Then, I constructed pockets. All I did was cut out a square about the size I wanted the pocket and hemmed all sides. On the big front pocket, I added some bias tape. The little pocket up on the bib of the apron is to hold my wedding ring, as I always find myself removing it to do chores because I am super paranoid about losing the stone, knowing that I am not always the most careful of people with my hands (I have scars to prove it too lol!).


I made the little towel holder because I am ever trying to "attach" a rag to myself to wipe my hands on and just to have on me for little cleanups. It is simply a hemmed up rectangle of fabric.

After hemming all my little squares and rectangles of fabric, it was construction time. I attached all the pockets first, followed by the bias tape for the ties. Finally, I just laid the skirt of the apron over the bib, glued so that everything would stay straight (without glue it seems I can't do an even seam to save my life!), and sewed. All told the project took me about 2 hours of actual work (not counting dry time for the glue)

Grenadine Ketchup

Oh boy is this one tasty! "Not sickeningly sweet like the store-bought stuff" says Elliot. This is just something I threw together on a whim, I'm just glad it came out edible, and in fact very good. I'm going to keep this around instead of buying ketchup.

• 2 cups plain tomato sauce
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 cap-fulls grenadine

Combine all the ingredients except the grenadine in a pan
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally
Simmer uncovered, until reduced to about 2 cups
Add the grenadine and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes
Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then store in a container in the fridge

Snow Tops

... AKA "Mexican Wedding Cookies Gone Awry" I had intended to make mexican wedding cookies, but you know how things go...... you're out of this........ you want to add a dash of that....... and pretty soon you have a different cookie! They are a small, round, crunchy cookie that leaves your fingers covered in powdered sugar.

• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c crushed salted peanuts*
• 1 c butter at cool room temp
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp pie spice (pumpkin or apple)

Cream together the butter and sugar
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and peanuts
Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter mixture
Gradually add the flour mixture and combine well
Refridgerate dough if needed for the next step
Shape the dough into small balls (about 1/2-1 teaspoon)
Place on a greased cookie sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven
Bake for about 10 minutes or until somewhat browned on top. you want these to be crunchy!
Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for just a minute or two
Meanwhile, combine the powdered sugar and pie spice in a resealable bag or on a pie plate
Toss the cookies with the sugar and enjoy!

*To crush the peanuts, I just tossed them in a plastic bag and beat it on the floor with the smooth side of my meat tenderizer. Any flat object would work

These are some dough balls I had frozen from a short while ago



This is about how you want the cookies to look when they come out of the oven:

Simple Honey-Mustard Chicken

This is a favourite around here, and it's really simple too! You can use this same recipe to make a honey-mustard dip as well (which tastes GREAT with chicken fingers). In place of the hot sauce, you can also use chili powder, paprika, or you can just leave it out altogether, I've made it in a variety of ways. Some other nice tweeks to the recipe would include adding a clove of crushed garlic, using seasoning salt instead of plain, or even trying white pepper or ginger. It's really flexible, and not even quite what I would consider a "recipe" being as it is so plastic.

on that note, here we go!

• equal parts mustard and honey (I use spicy brown mustard)
• a dash of hot sauce
• salt and pepper "to taste"
• a small palmful of oregano, more or less (depending on how much honey and mustard you are using

Combine it all, and use as a marinade or dip for chicken!
For thin-sliced chicken breast, I marinated for 20 minutes then put under the broiler until done.

all my ingredients:


... ready to go in the oven!



...and the lovely finished chicken:

Aprons!

I'm NOT a "crafter", but I have been wanting to try some crafty stuff lately. Well, I went to the wal mart because they had these nice bandanas on sale (I like to wear them in my hair). When I got home, I started to play with them, and realized that they would make great valentine-y aprons. Now, I'm NOT very good at sewing at all, but with the help of some liquid stitch (mostly with the help of liquid stitch) and a bit of help from the sewing machine, and some folding, I managed to make a little set





I am almost done with a third one that I'm making from a yard of fabric. Since I S U C K at following patterns, I figgured I'd just work with squares. I cut out squares from the fabric and hemmed (with liquid stitch again..... I can't make straight lines with the sewing machine but I CAN make VERY straight hems with that glue. I did however go over all the seams with the sewing machine afterward), then just started folding. I am probably going to go back and get another yard of fabric, and this time I will take pics as I'm putting my apron together and post them.

Here's my other apron so far (I'm going to add a pocket or two)

It looks like the trim on the top needs to be trimmed off, but that's just the straps coming from the top folded weird and at a weird angle for the pic. If you are wondering about the small grey/black blur at the bottom right-hand corner of the pic, that would be my cat Isis's tail, who I raised from the time she was 3 days old.

Apparently today was not a good one to get a clear picture, but you should get the idea

BBQ Sandwich Meal

Mmmm, who doesn't like a good bbq beef sandwich with potato wedges? Here, we have some home-made bbq sauce, some crock pot beef, home-made sandwich rolls, and ranch potatoes! You will find the recipes for bbq sauce, potato wedges, and sandwich buns in the posts below this one :) Here's a tip: if you want to make this meal just a smidge more special, lightly saute some onions in butter or oil and put them on the sandwiches.

first up is the beef:

• about 2 lbs of any cut of beef (here it was cross-rib roast because it was on sale)
• apx. 1 tablespoon each honey, mustard, and worchestershire sauce
• 4 tablespoons salt (I know it sounds like a lot)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• several garlic cloves, peeled
  
• 1 onion (any size/any kind)
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons each basil and thyme

First, go ahead and cut up the roast
Combine the honey, mustard, and worchestershire
Combine the salt, chili, pepper, basil, and thyme
Cut small holes in the roast and shove the garlic cloves into them
Slice up the onion
Rub the honey mixture over every piece of the roast
Do the same with the dry seasonings
Place half of the sliced onion in the bottom of the crock pot
Put the roast on top
Put the remainder of the onions on top of the roast
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10
Pull the meat out and shred it

now you've made part of that lovely meal

Assembling the ingredients

The roast all cut up and seasoned (see the garlic?)




Everything's ready to go!





.... And this is what it should look like after many hours (not pretty I know)

Super Simple Potato Wedges

They're easy-peasy!

• 3 potatoes, washed and peeled
• 1 or 2 tablespoons ranch dressing mix
• 2 teaspoons oil

slice up the potatoes
toss with oil
combine with ranch dressing mix
place on a pan sprayed with nonstick spray
bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or till done (just taste one; you'll know when they are done enough for you)

Sandwich Buns

I LOVE the smell of baking bread, there's nothing like taking a fresh-baked loaf, holding it right under your nose, and taking a DEEP breath, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

The ground flax seed in the recipe is completely optional, but I figgured it would be a great way to add some fiber and fatty acids.

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons oil (olive perferably, but any oil will do)
• 3 cups flour (I always just use all-purpose)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
• cornmeal for the baking sheet

Add flour, oil, salt, sugar, yeast and water to your bread machine according to its instructions.
Set on dough setting.
Always follow your machines instructions, when mixing open it and keep check on the dough. Dough should be in a nice round soft sticky to the touch ball. If it is not add more water, or add flour which ever is needed.
Remove when signal beeps and cycle is done.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Sprinkle cornflour or cornmeal onto a baking sheet.
shape the dough into a few small (and short! these suckers WILL get taller when they rise/bake!) loaves
cover and let rise for about half an hour in a warm room
put a pan or other oven-proof container of water in the bottom of the oven (or else the bread will have a hard crust; we don't want that for sandwich buns!)
put in the oven (center rack will do) for about half an hour, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped
take out, allow to cool thoroughly before cutting

One of the mini-loaves which I slashed across the top:

Some Sweet, Sweet BBQ Sauce

This is loosely based on a recipe from recipezaar. It is REALLY sweet, so if you want spicy, well don't make this one! Elliot just loves this sauce, it's one of the sweetest I've ever tasted, and it's just the way he likes it :)

• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1 dash hot sauce (I SWEAR it's not enough to make it taste hot at all) or one Round Table packet of peppers
  

It's very simple really: toss all the ingredients in a pot, combine well, and simmer over low heat for an hour or two, stirring occasionally. The slight vinegar taste will go away if you let the sauce sit in the fridge overnight.

Just for the heck of it, here's a pic of everything in the pot: