Grandmother's Sugar Cookies!

Recently I got a recipe from my Nana on her signature sugar cookies, and I've made them before but never did I get such amazing results!! I didn't have a rolling pin so I had to use a long glass that I had then just cut out the shape with the opening of the glass, which worked out pretty well.

The sugar cookies were sooo good, and from the most simple ingredients, making it a very convenient recipe. I'll post the directions on here soon, I just don't have it in front of me! ;]

Look how good they look! Ahh Bree would be proud!

Crowd-Pleasing Oatmeal Cookies!

Decided to bake some delicious oatmeal cookies tonight...from scratch, of course. I found this great recipe online that is so simple, and it includes all of the ingredients that anyone would have so you're not left running to the store for one minor addition.

Here's the recipe from Allrecipes.com (http://bit.ly/bzyHDa)...Enjoy!


Ingredients

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 cups quick cooking oats
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats and nuts until just blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be at least 2 inches apart.
3. Bake for about 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Fall is Nearly Here! Time for Autumn Recipes!

I get so excited when I see the leaves start to turn, then soon they'll fall. It's my favorite time of year, especially when I can incorporate my love of the seasons into my cooking! Just because the colors are changing outside, doesn't mean that they can't be the same in your kitchen!

This recipe is for Pumpkin Cookies!

I got this recipe off of http://oldfashionedliving.com/ from a Ms. Brenda Hyde, and the recipes are FANTASTIC! Bree Hodge would be so pleased with your work.


Ingredients:

4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 cups quick or old fashioned oats, uncooked
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 can, 16 ounce, solid pack pumpkin
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

*** Feel free to decorate the top anyway you see fit! Sprinkles do always add a nice touch though.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. Cream butter, add sugars gradually, beating until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; mix well. Alternate after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Spread into a pumpkin shape using a thin metal spatula or the back of a large metal spoon. Add a bit more dough to form a stem. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until cookies are firm and browned. Remove and cool on racks. Decorate using your favorite icing and assorted candies. Makes about 32 large cookies.

Basic & Easy Chicken and Pasta Dish!

Having barely any food in my household, this is by far the easiest thing to make for a filling, healthy, and lovely meal! Target now has produce, which is a big thumbs up, but they also have frozen (already cooked) grilled chicken there for a very cheap price. So many dishes can be made from that quick readily available chicken. But I made bow tie pasta, with seasoned peas, and chicken.

I made the pasta like how you would any, then put the chicken in a little frying pan and poured a bit of olive oil on it, then seasoned with red chili pepper (hate spicy but it's actually good), then heated the peas up in the pan. Then I cut up the chicken into small, bite-size pieces, and topped the entire dish with shredded provolone cheese. It was SO good!

*** Another similar, and equally good recipe is replacing the chicken with shrimp and pouring white white in the pan along with some garlic and lemon. Very good!

Enjoy!

Basil Smoothie By Giada!

Try this amazing Basil Smoothie...we know Bree would!

It's made by the beloved Giada de Laurentiis from Food Network!

Ingredients

* 1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
* 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
* 1 1/2 cups Lemon Simple Syrup, recipe follows
* 1 cup ice

Directions

In a blender, combine the yogurt, basil, Lemon Simple Syrup, and ice. Blend until smooth and frothy. Pour into frosted glasses and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 (6-ounce) servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy
Lemon Simple Syrup:

* 1 cup water
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and lemon zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Take the pan off the heat and allow the syrup to cool, about 20 minutes. Strain before using.

Classy as Always While Hosting!

I've always loved Bree Hodge (Van de Kamp) because regardless of the circumstance she always maintains that gentle smile and can still distinguish a salad fork from a dessert fork. I think by being a host of an event or by throwing the dinner parties yourself, although may be stressful, can still allow for everyone to see your talent put to work, and how lovely you can truly make things when presented with such an opportunity. One cook whom I especially love is Giada de Laurentiis; the beautiful Food Network star from Rome, Italy. She always makes such healthy, colorful food; just the perfect type of recipes to dish up at a party.

I have a house warming party coming up...what to bake?? Stay tuned...

Fun Idea for Kid's Birthday Cake! Lotso-Lovin'-Bear!

For a fun new idea of an easy birthday cake to make for your kid's birthday, check out this simple white cake recipe.

Because in the new Toy Story 3 movie they say how Lotso smells like strawberries, so I thought it'd be a cute idea to have strawberry frosting then bright purple for his nose, and I used brown jimmy sprinkles for his eyebrows. Turned out pretty cute!! We were said to cute into it.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

* 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 egg whites
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 3/4 cup butter
* 1 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1. Measure sifted flour, baking powder, and salt; sift together three times.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually, and continue beating only until meringue will hold up in soft peaks.
3. Cream butter or margarine. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Mix in flavorings. Add meringue, and beat thoroughly into batter. Spread batter in a 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan which has been lined on the bottom with parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. This cake may also be baked in two 9 inch round pans for 30 to 35 minutes, or in three 8 inch round pans for 25 to 30 minutes.

Emerill's Waffle Recipe

I decided to try a new waffle recipe and was poking around on Food Network and came across the most delicious recipe ever. It is Emerill's simple waffle recipe and I added chocolate chips, and they were so light and airy; they were like clouds! Be sure to try this recipe out for those you'd like to impress ;) It's quick, easy and just heavenly. The only thing that I did differently was that I used regular, all-purpose flour instead of cake flour and they were still so so amazing. You simply MUST try them! Enjoy :)


Ingredients

* 2 cups cake flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 large eggs, separated
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
* 2 cups milk
* non-stick cooking spray

Directions

Preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. In 1 medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a second bowl use the wooden spoon to beat together the egg yolks and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and eggs have turned a pale yellow. Add the vanilla extract, melted butter, and milk to the eggs and whisk to combine. Combine the egg-milk mixture with the flour mixture and whisk just until blended. Do not over mix. In third bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Using the rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter. Do not overmix! Coat the waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and pour enough batter in iron to just cover waffle grid. Close and cook as per manufacturer's instructions until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.