{Season}able Breadsticks

A lovely company called Whimsy & Spice from NYC shared this recipe on their blog. It was a very easy peasy recipe, and my family loved it. Check it out and enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! Ready to start fresh this year. I am currently reading a sweet novel called "Friendship Bread" by Darien Gee. Barely a quarter way into the book I wanted to know how to make the bread the author talks about, so I flipped to the back and proceeded to make one of many recipes she suggests. I can only say after baking the zucchini bread version of friendship bread I am an absolute fan! After I shared my treat with the family, I still had extra baking mix. I didn't want to make another loaf so I made mini loaves and had my kids disperse them to the neighbors. I love this bread and the story behind it. Highly encourage reading the book then baking the bread (:

The mini loaves cooling right out of the oven. You can see the cinnamon sugar topping. Yum!

The large loaf was for the family.

The baby loaves all wrapped up and ready to be devoured for snack and lunchtime treat.

Baking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325℉.

2. Add starter (about 2 cups)to bowl.

3. 3 eggs

4. 1/2 cup oil

5. 1/2 cup milk

6. 1 cup sugar

7. 1/2 tsp. vanilla

8. 2 tsp. cinnamon

9. 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

10. 1/2 tsp. salt

11. 1/2 tsp. baking soda

12. 2 cups flour

13. 1 box Jell-O instant pudding ( I used Pistachio, but you can use any flavor)

14. 1tsp. nutmeg

15. Mix in large bowl all ingredients then add 2 cups unpeeled zucchini, shredded-    squeeze excess liquid (important so there is no additional moisture).

16. If you want you can add 1 cup of any nuts, I prefer none (:, mix throughly.

17. Grease or spray oil in a loaf pan (mini or large or whatever).

18. In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar in greased pan(s).

19. Pour Mixed ingredients 2/3 into pan, then sprinkle with remaining sugar mix.

20. Bake 1 hr. or until bread loosens from sides and toothpick comes out clean from center of bread.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays

Better late than never. It seems I have been neglecting my dear blog for a year, however I have not stopped cooking yummy delicacies and learning new things along the way. This holiday season I have been excited about making homemade gifts for family, here are some of my tried and tested ideas:

1. Candy Cane Marshmallows, 2. Hot Butter Rum, 3. Marinara Sauce and Pesto, 4. Rosemary Pear Preserve and Cranberry Jam, and 5. Chewy Molasses Cookie.

The Candy Cane Marshmallows were from Martha Stewart's recipe; easy, but suggest reading comments after recipe for helpful tips. Hot Butter Rum; no recipe, buy Hot Butter Rum Spices and add Rum with whipped cream (YUM). Marinara Sauce and Basil Pesto are homemade Christmas presents (shhhhhhhh......(;). Rosemary and Pear Preserve (cousin's secret recipe Sorry) and Cranberry Jam recipe, another surprise Christmas treat. And finally, Chewy Molasses Cookie, these are the best molasses cookies I have eaten ( I am not bias :)), really they are easy to make and can compete with another favorite Ginger Molasses Cookie at Paradise Bakery. Just a few ideas that I wanted to share. I hope everyone has a funtastic holiday season, enjoy each others company and savor every moment together ♥♥♥

Cherry Blossom Bliss

Spring is blooming in the desert and to celebrate the great weather I made some yummy easy to make Cherry Blossom pastry.

All you need is premade pie/pastry dough and canned cherry filling. Heat oven to 375℉. Cut dough into square pieces and add a tablespoon of cherry filling in the center.  Brush tops of pastries with an egg wash (egg yolk only, beaten). Cook for 15-20 minutes. Let cool then enjoy! Happy Spring everyone.

Irish Guinness Shepherd Pie

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I had a couple of leftovers that I did not want to go to waste. So I gathered my extra veggies and mash potatoes and added some ground beef to make an interesting shepherd pie.

It came out wonderfully, my kids loved it. For me the greatest part was being creative and not wasteful with what I had. Here is a recipe of a shepherd pie that I tweaked a little. 

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon black pepper
16 ounces ground beef or lamb
1 large onion, finely diced
3-4 large carrots, finely diced
1 cup frozen peas
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 bottle Guinness
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup stock
1 large quantity mashed potatoes (estimating 6 cups, fresh or leftover)


Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 400°. Saute′ carrots in the olive oil until starting to get tender. Add in the onions and sauté for a minute or two, and then add the meat. Season with black pepper and thyme. Cook until browned then drain fat. Add the butter and peas. Sprinkle with flour and stir through. Add tomato paste, Guinness and Worcestershire sauce. Let this reduce slightly then add the chicken stock. Allow to reduce down until you have thick meaty gravy. Season to your taste. Remove from heat. Grease a 9 x 13” oven proof dish with butter and add the sauce. Spoon mashed potatoes on top.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the potato is nice and browned on top. 

A great meal to serve on a cold wintery day!

Macaroons!

I love macaroons. Recently, my husband found this wonderful pastery shop that makes them. The above macaroons are pumpkin, hazelnut, key lime, raspberry rosewater and espresso. And just by coincidence I had a sample of each flavor ;-)! They all tasted devine, but I would have to say the pumpkin one was a favorite. Check out the cafe site at http://www.essencemacaron.com/index.php

Cocktail Hour

Dirty martini with Hor d' oeuvres.

Had a little cocktail gathering at home with light fare. We had Chianti marinated salami with rosemary wafers, Dubliner cheese and Rosemary olive oil Asiago cheese, with a side of Blue Cheese stuffed green olives.  Dirty martinis were the beverage accompanying the appetizers. So simple and fun to put together in a short amount of time. It was a nice way to relax after a long day.