Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Each year for Thanksgiving I make one of my favorite pies (to be honest it's the only time of year I make it). I'd never had Pecan Pie until I met my husband. Since he's from Texas (and the state tree is the Pecan Tree) he introduced me to Pecan Pie.

Most pecan pies you find in restaurants are full of the sugary filling and have very few pecans. I love this recipe because of the ratio of pecans to filling. The crust is also perfect - flaky and tender.

This recipe comes from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks:
The recipes in here aren't "quick and easy". For example, the pie crust recipe takes a couple hours. You make the crust, chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, let rest on counter for 10-20 minutes, roll out crust and flute edges, refrigerate for 40 minutes, freeze for 20 minutes, bake for 17 minutes with pie weights, and bake for 9 minutes without pie weights. I know, it seems like a lot, but once a year it's definitely worth it! The two of us ate the entire pie in 3 days, but if you would have been here we would have given you a slice :)

Foodie

As I sat at work yesterday and thought about my next Blog post (we weren’t very busy in the afternoon) a thought popped in my head. “Am I a Foodie?” This then turned into thoughts on the definition of a Foodie and my self-proclaimed qualifications to call myself a Foodie.

Once I got home from work I immediately Googled the word Foodie. Wikipedia is the first link that comes: “Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink.” I like this definition and they also go on to describe the difference between a Gourmet and a Foodie.

So here’s my Top Ten Reasons why I’m a Foodie:

10. I love to bake/cook AND I love to go out to eat

9. I consider food my hobby (along with other things – I’d like to consider myself well-rounded)

8. I love receiving kitchen gadgets as presents (One year my husband gave me a kitchen scale for Christmas...just what I wanted!)

7. I have my tried and true recipes, but am constantly on the look out for new recipes to add to my collection.

6. I love receiving compliments about the food I make.

5. I have a TiVo Season Pass to at least 4 Food Network shows (i.e. Ace of Cakes, Good Eats, Feasting on Asphalt, Next Food Network Star, etc)

4. I worked for a Food Broker for six years. The best perk was samples of food (especially new products before they hit the shelf).

3. I’d rather spend money on food than most other things. For example, I’ve never spent money on a massage because I’d rather spend it on food.

2. When I think of vacations I remember the food experiences (Strawberry Charlotte in Paris, Bratwurst in Germany, Roasted Chicken and fresh tortillas in Mexico, Clam Chowder in Cannon Beach, Chocolate Milkshake in Portland, etc) I even go so far as to find restaurants I want to try when most people find the tourist attractions they want to see.

1. It’s hereditary (I come from a long line of Foodies. My Grandma was always making sure we were eating at any family gathering which included making us get seconds. My Dad bakes bread without a recipe and I remember him creating new stir-fry dishes growing up. My Mom created a food journal – each Sunday dinner she would write down the menu in a notebook and who was at the dinner. Enough said or should I provide more hereditary evidence?)

Happy Halloween

Here's my treat for Halloween. It took me many years to find the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (just ask my husband). Too many cookies are greasy and flat. This cookie is perfect (in my humble opinion). It's crisp just around the edges and soft in the middle. It holds its shape after cooling and doesn't taste greasy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
12 oz chocolate chips

Mix shortening and butter together. Add sugar and brown sugar; mix well (all the sugar should be dissolved in the fat). Add two eggs, mix until just combined.

Add in vanilla extract. Then add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should barely be golden. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies rest 2-3 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack and let cool.

***This recipe makes 5-6 dozen (recipe can easily be halved)

***We like to try different combinations of chips (i.e. 1/3 peanut butter chips, 1/3 milk chocolate chips, and 1/3 white chocolate chips)

Butterfly Cake

I have 19 nieces and nephews. I'm very grateful I can live close to 7 of them. A lot of times I'll make their birthday cakes. Erin is my only niece (or nephew) that I've made EVERY birthday cake for.

Here is her first cake:Erin was so sick on her birthday...she didn't even get to try it. I made a box cake mix, but instead of all the eggs and oil I put in baby food. To make the butterfly I used heart shaped pans for the wings and cut the body out of a 9x13 cake.

I love to make birthday cakes for my nieces and nephews. I don't get them presents, but instead make them a cake. Erin can tell you about every cake she's received from me (all six). We've already started talking about her cake for next year :)

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

My favorite food blog is The Smitten Kitchen. I love her sense of humor, beautiful pictures, and yummy recipes. I've made a few of her recipes and today I'll share my most recent...Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake.

As soon as I read the post on her Blog I knew I had to make it asap. Since there are only two of us I had to wait until the right time (I didn't want to have leftover cheesecake tempting me for a week). Some of my family came in town for Labor Day weekend and I finally had my chance.

My pictures aren't as beautiful as Deb's (a.ka. Smitten Kitchen), but I'll share none the less.


I followed Deb's recipe and it was so yummy (including the chocolate Teddy Grahams for the crust). I got lots of positive feedback from my family too.

Next time I make this cheesecake I'll use a different brownie recipe. I prefer the one in The Best Recipe (I'll share it with you the next time I make Brownies).

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy...

For my niece, Megan's, 3rd Birthday I made her the below Fish Cake. I saw the idea on a Food Network show (but that was 8 years ago and I don't remember which one so I can't really give credit where credit's due). I also made this cake a second time for Brendan's 4th Birthday, but I can't find a picture of it.


Directions: Bake a cake in a 9x13 pan. Carve a large oval out of the center and use the remaining corner pieces to make the fins/tail. Here is a rough diagram (click to enlarge):
Use Necco wafers for the scales. I used a peppermint patty for the eye on this cake, but on Brendan's cake I used round jelly candies and cut a small hole in a white one and put a small piece of a green one in the hole. Use a star tip with any color frostings to decorate the face, fins, and tails. Finally, the mouth is a swedish fish.

A few recipes...

Here are a couple of my standard recipes...

I admit that I almost always use a box cake mix. A few times I've made cakes from scratch, but the box mixes work just fine for me (I'm not even brand loyal). I like to take the shortcut of the box mix since I spend at least a couple hours doing the decorations.

Side Note: My husband, Patrick, has an aunt who decorated cakes while he was growing up. He remembers her crying almost every time because something didn't work out. When I first started making cakes Patrick made me promise I wouldn't cry. And if I did cry I wasn't allowed to decorate cakes any more. I've upheld my promise and haven't cried yet :)

Cookies and Cream Cake
1 white box cake mix
1 cup chopped Oreos (I like to have pieces of Oreos in the cake so I don't crush them all the way to crumbs)

Make the cake mix according to the box directions. Fold in the Oreos to the batter before pouring into cake pans and bake as directed.

***I think this cake has the perfect balance of chocolate.

Buttercream Icing

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with stand mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

YIELD: Makes about 3 cups.

***Don't be afraid to really beat the icing in the stand mixer. You want the sugar to dissolve in the fat and it to be light and fluffy. This recipe is easy to increase by half or double depending on how much decorations your doing for the cake.