Valentine's Day Treats

I wanted to make something fun and different to bring to work this Valentine's Day. I did some thinking and decided to make red velvet cake and then use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make individual heart-shaped treats for people. You can make the red velvet cake from scratch, but I just used a boxed cake mix from the store. I made 2 cakes with one box. I wanted the cakes to be a bit thinner than a normal cake so it would be easier to use the cookie cutter. After the cakes have cooled, take the cookie cutter and start cutting out the heart shapes. Once you have a platter of mini heart-shaped cakes, put vanilla or cream cheese frosting on each one and decorate as you see fit. I got pink frosting with heat shaped sprinkles. You can be as creative as you want with this one, folks!

Before frosting



After frosting

Crock Pot Roasted Lemon Chicken

I have joined the rest of America and have become a crock pot user. My wonderful mother got me one for Christmas and I am obsessed. It's so easy and stress free. I'm guessing my next few posts will all be crock pot recipes. You're welcome. My first stab at it was turkey chili, but it didn't turn out as I had hoped, so I am not posting it . My buddy, Stacie, said it might be because I kept taking the lid off to stir. I have a lot to learn about the all-mighty crock pot! And now, I present to you....ROASTED LEMON CHICKEN

Ingredients:
1 roasting chicken
butter
thyme
salt
pepper
paprika
rosemary
1 lemon

Rub the outside of the chicken with butter and sprinkle on the spices. squeeze the juice of one lemon over the chicken and throw it in the crockpot. High for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 and you're ready to eat. Soooo easy and so delicious

Pumpkin Pie Martinis

This drink was a huge hit at dinner tonight. It literally tastes like punkin pie in a glass.

You can switch it up a bit, but here is how i made it...
I put the ingredients below in a shaker with ice and poured it into martini glasses rimmed with graham cracker crumbs and then topped it with a dollop of whipped cream and a dried cranberry:
3 shots of whipped cream flavored vodka (if you can't find whipped cream flavor, vanilla works too)
3 shots of Fulton's Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur
a splash of cream or milk
a dash of pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have any, cinnamon will do)
a tsp of Trader Joe's Pumpkin butter

You won't be able to drink just one!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Hello pals- It's been a hot minute since I've added recipes to this blog and I thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect day to get back into it. I'd like to introduce you to pumpkin cheesecake...you're welcome

what you need
9 ounces of either chocolate wafers, graham crackers or ginger snaps (or a mixture of 2 or 3- I used graham crackers and ginger snaps)
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbs melted butter
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs slightly beaten
5 ounces evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of salt
8 ounces of marscapone or cream cheese (I prefer marscapone- it's sweeter)

for crust
1- preheat oven to 350
2- crush your wafers, graham crackers or ginger snaps 'til they are pretty fine (I put them in a plastic baggy and take a hammer to 'em)
3- mix the crushed cookies with 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter
4- spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray and press the cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan
5- bake the crust 8-10 minutes and let cool completely before putting the filling in

for filling
1- in a bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and evaporated milk
2- in a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup of sugar, cornstarch, spices, salt and cheese and beat until mixture is smooth
3-add pumpkin mixture to cheese mixture and beat on low until combined and smoove

bake this bad boy
1- place springform pan with crust on a baking sheet (in case it leaks) and add filling
2- bake at 350 for about an hour or until center is set
3- let cool for about 30 minutes, cover and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!!

LOST Finale Party Treats

Yesterday was a sad day in these parts. LOST aired it's final episode ever. So bittersweet. It was time for it to go, but after 6 years of clearing your Tuesday night to watch this gem, you are left feeling kinda lost (no pun intended).
My wonderful boyfriend and his roomie had a big blowout to mark the occasion. Below are the dessert ideas I came up with.

COCONUT LEMON CAKE
This one is nothing to brag about really. I pretty much just baked a lemon cake from a box in a rectangle baking pan and frosted it with white frosting and sprinkled with coconut. The real fun with this one is in the decoarting. I went to Party City and Target and got a miniature polar bear, a miniature airplane, some lil flowers and number candles. See the picture below for how it turned out. Not sure if you can tell, but the plane has crashed into the cake (I'm so darn clever).


PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CUPCAKES
I've never made a regular sized pineapple upside down cake, but I thought it was a good tropical dessert for a LOST party. I just didn't want another big cake, so I turned the recipe into cupcakes. Super simple.
2 cans of pineapple chunks
1/3 cup melted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 box yellow cake mix
Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl and mix in brown sugar. Drop about a tablespoon of the concoction into the bottom of a cupcake tin, not lined but sprayed with cooking spray. On top of that drop about a tablespoon of chopped pineapple chunks (you may want to chop the pineapple smaller than it comes). Stir up the cake batter just as it says on the box and spoon the mixture on top of the pineapple and brown sugar/butter (fill almost to the top- just like you are making cupcakes)- Throw that bad boy in a 350 degree oven for about 11 minutes or until they look done. Take them out, let them sit about 2 mins, gently take a knife and go around each cupcake just to loosen them up and then very carefully flip them over onto a platter. I put the platter on top of the cupcake tin and then flip it. Then low and behold, you have perfect lil pineapple upside down cupcakes.


PEANUT BUTTER COMPASS COOKIES
This one isn't anything to brag about either because it's just cookie mix, but as with the lemon cake, the fun is in the decorating. The reason they are peanut butter cookies is because Claire had a hankering for peanut butter when she was pregnant.
Here's a good trick I taught myself. I was in Ralphs and saw a pack of 6 mini pot pie tins. They are round and the perfect size for cookies. It takes a bit longer if you are making alot, but you come out with perfectly round cookies.
All i did was make store bought peanut butter cookies. Put the batter into the sprayed pot pie tins, ran a fork over them in a cross pattern to make it look more like a compass in the end, put a chocolate chip in the center of each and let them bake til they were done. Once they were out of the oven and cooled, I took icing and put the N,E,S,W letters on there and jazzed them up a bit.

Blueberry and Pear Crisp

This is what happens when you are stuck at home, sick as a dog all week. I am so bored, I decided to whip up a lovely crisp with the fruit I had on hand. I didn't have ice cream or whip cream to make my picture look fancy, but I promise it's still yummy.

2/3 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. blueberries or 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen blueberries, thawed
1/4 c. sugar
3-5 pears, peeled and cored
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven 375 degrees.
Put the blueberries, pears, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice in the bottom of a buttered cake pan or dish.

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in bowl. Cut butter in dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping over fruit and bake for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or nothing at all jerks, what do I care.

Cumin Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Wow time flies when you forget you have a food blog...

My beautiful Auntie Shelley gave me this recipe and it is fantastic. It's healthy and delicious and super easy.

1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (depends on how hot you like it)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 fully ripened avocado
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, cumin and pepper. Rub on chicken. In large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until no longer pink in the center. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine avocado, tomato, cucumber, onion, cilantro, lime juice and 1/2 tsp of salt. Serve over chicken and enjoy