If your kid is anything like my kid, than your kid will eat anything as long as it's on a stick.
Cake pops are fantastic.
They're cute, they're tasty, but they're usually a total pain in the ass to make.
But Aubrey and Lindsay have come up with a 5-minute cake pops recipe that even the laziest momma will be excited to make!
Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cups

CLICK HERE!!!!

Dessert! F*ck Yeah!

Caramelized Bananas with Coconut Rum Cream

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, peeled 
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• coconut rum to taste (begin by adding 1-2 teaspoons at a time)

Method

1. Place butter into skillet over low to medium heat. Cut banana in half length-wise. Place banana halves into skillet on top of melting butter. sprinkle top of banana with brown sugar.Cook until butter and brown sugar have caramelized on the banana – about two minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Whip whipping cream with granulated sugar until medium peaks form. Gradually add coconut rum until flavored to your preference.
3. Place banana slices in serving bowl and drizzle with caramel sauce. Top with coconut rum cream. Eat immediately.

Recipe: Endive and Ham Gratin

This is tonight's dinner.

Creamy and delicious.

Ingredients:

6 Belgian endives

6 slices Gruyere cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 thin slices cured ham

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

1 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Trim the bottoms of the endives and parboil them in the water for 3 minutes. Remove them from the water and allow them to cool slightly.

Place a slice of Gruyere cheese on a cooked endive, sprinkle it with ground black pepper, and then wrap the cured ham around it to form a packet. Repeat the process with the remaining endives. Place the prepared endives in a shallow glass baking dish and set it aside for a moment.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour until it forms a smooth paste. Continue whisking, cook for about 2 minutes, and then gradually – 1/3 cup at a time - add the milk. Continue whisking and cook until the sauce is completely heated through, smooth, and thickened. Remove the Béchamel sauce from the heat and season with the salt and nutmeg.

Pour the sauce over the prepared endive and bake the gratin in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until it turns slightly brown and bubbly. Serve the endive and ham gratin immediately.

Recipe: Chocolate pots de creme

This was such a rich and creamy chocolate lovers' dream dessert.  I made it last night after we had our pot roast.  I was just looking for a dessert I already had all the ingredients to make.  This is going to be a popular one, we'll definitely have it again and again.  Mmmm.  I made one small change from the recipe though; instead of using chocolate chips I shaved 6 oz of semi-sweet bakers chocolate.


Ingredients:
6 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons dark rum
3/4 cup milk

Directions:
Combine first six ingredients in blender. Heat milk just to boiling. Pour over other ingredients. Cover and blend one minute. Pour immediately into four ramekin dishes. Chill at least one hour.

A Yummy Home Made Present for my Lovelies...

Rhoda’s Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce
Yields 4 cups

2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 t. Kosher salt
2 c. heavy cream
1 c. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 t. peppermint extract (substitute vanilla, if you don’t want the mint flavor)

Directions: In a double boiler over medium heat stir in cocoa, sugars and salt. Add the cream and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the butter is melted and the sauce comes together and is smooth and glossy. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Then, remove the bowl from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the peppermint extract. Store in the fridge and re-heat when ready to use.

Storage notes: This sauce is great to packages in glass jars for gifts. When pouring the sauce from the bowl into the jar it is helpful to use a kitchen funnel if you have one available. This sauce will stay in the fridge for up to two weeks or more.

Serving ideas: In addition to ice-cream, this sauce is excellent drizzled over slices of pound cake, cheesecake or a meringue. The version made with vanilla extract is also delicious served with poached fruit.

[source]

Recipe: Prosciutto Wrapped Artichoke Hearts

Right Here

What Katie Ate

 

I want to be a foodie.  I do.  I want to make gorgeous, hearty, colourful meals from scratch every night of the week.  I want to be a lady in a scarf at the grocery store feeling up the yams.  I want to win Gordon Ramsay's blind taste test.  I do love food.  I want it to love me back.  So far, not so lucky.

When You're In a Pinch

Dangerous Chocolate Cake-in-a-Mug

1 - coffee mug (microwave-safe)

4 T. - cake flour (plain, not self-rising)

4 T. - sugar

2 T. - cocoa

1 - egg

3 T. - milk

3 T. - oil

1 - splash of vanilla

3 T. - chocolate chips (Optional)


Add dry ingredients to the mug; mix well with a fork. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk, oil, and vanilla, and mix well. Add chips, if using.

Put mug in the microwave, and cook for three minutes at 1,000 watts. Cake will rise over the top of the mug -- do not be alarmed. When finished, carefully remove mug from microwave and allow to cool a little. Tip onto a small plate prior to serving, if desired. Yields one generous serving or two "more virtuous" servings.

cupcakes for dummies!

So, I didn't come back and post again last night.  I didn't feel like it.  We got back from Mike momma's house a little late.  But here I am now!
And I am going to tell you about the 2nd thing I've ever made by myself that was really yummy (the 1st thing was barbecue chicken ranch sandwiches).

That is me.  In my kitchen.  With a cupcake.
This cupcake is a vanilla peppermint cupcake!
And it's a lot prettier when it isn't a photo captured by my webcam...
It's minty green and sparkly.

So I just added a teaspoon of peppermint extract to boxed cake mix.  Baked the cupcakes.  Added some green colouring to some vanilla icing.  Sprinkled crushed (via Mike's framing hammer) peppermint pieces on top.  And they are delicious.  We've eaten 10 in the last 2 days.
The greatest thing about my cupcakes is that you wouldn't think they came from a package.
Who knew what a little extra could do for a box of cake mix?

Just call me Betty.
mum jams:  bicycle race - queen

When in Rome...

I am so fucking proud of myself right now.

Shut up. You have no idea.

Okay, so. There was this one time I went to Europe, k? Right. And there were a couple of things I experienced there that never left me. They left an indelible blot on my soul and I thought about them for years after the trip. So what if those things were edible? Shut up.

Paris, France: Laduree. This place is like a little heaven. I think there is more than one in Paris. At any rate, these macaroons. Oh God. I had them at Laduree in des Champs-Elysees, the most beautiful part of Paris. The place with the giant Louis Vuitton suitcase? So. The Laduree Macaroon:

"The story of the Ladurée macaroon starts with Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of Louis Ernest Ladurée, who at the beginning of the 20th century first thought of taking two macaroon shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling."

Doesn't that just sound like the greatest idea since electricity?

The second thing in Europe that never left me was the Gelato at San Crispino, very near the Trevi fountain. They have so many flavours. So many. Pistachio is one of their best. I must have tried twenty when I was there. Gelato is not ice cream. Gelato is a religious experience.

I can't make Gelato, and would never attempt to try. BUT not long ago, Mike and I were in Oakville and we stopped in a place called La Casa Del Gelato Divino and I'll be damned if they didn't have hand-made-by-real-Italians-fucking-Gelato!!! I haven't been back since, but it was the first time since Europe I was so excited.

SO, finally, the reason I am so proud and ecstatic:

I FOUND A RECIPE FOR LADUREE MACAROONS!!!!

I have to make them in the very near future. And SO DO YOU!

Vegan or not, who gives a shit when it comes to Laduree Macaroons? (The correct answer is NOBODY)

So please do yourself a favour and force a little European indulgence into your life. I promise you've never had anything like it.

San Crispino, Rome. CAN YOU BELIEVE I WAS THERE? I can't.

Laduree Macaroons

The giant Louis suitcase, in des champs. Just in case you thought I was pulling your leg.

the eggplant casserole disaster

So that eggplant casserole I've been planning to make? I finally made it last night.

I peeled the eggplant, I chopped the onions, I boiled them. I strained them, added soy milk and some corn starch. I mashed it all. I covered it all with the nastiest smelling "cheese" ever and I cooked it. Aaaand cooked it. And cooked it for well over an hour (I couldn't tell when it was done).

The "cheese" never melted! It never melted!

And I don't know how to tell when an eggplant casserole is cooked. Mike is in the next room literally gagging because it smells so terrible (that is all the "cheese"s fault). I put the spoon in and give it a try, and I wish I could tell you I was pleasantly surprised; But it was the most disgusting thing I've ever had in my mouth (and there have been some shameful things in there). I tried. I tried so hard to swallow it but in the end it dropped out of my face like the glob of shit it was, and the entire casserole was thrown out.

Just about ready to throw in the towel and head to McDonald's, Mike - the wonderful man that he is - encourages me to stick to what I've started and just make something else. He also said that being vegan most of the time was a lot better than being vegan none of the time (which happens to be what I tell myself before I eat a Ritter Sport.)

So in the kitchen I go, once again. I boil some noodles. I chop some tomatoes and some avocado, I mince some garlic. I drain the noodles and add all of the chopped up stuff, plus some olive oil and salt and pepper. It was simply divine. Light, tasty and perfect. I was back on the wagon once again.

Now. As much as I'd like to encourage others to give a vegan lifestyle a try, it really is hard work. I have great willpower and I struggle sometimes.

2 things in my fridge that I regret buying and will never touch again: soy yogurt and that nasty "cheese" that doesn't melt and smells like the basement of a haunted house in hell. I don't exaggerate. It is that gross.

So yes, try to cut down on meat products and meat bi-products. It's better for you, better for the environment and better for your chi (yes, I do believe that). Try living a cruelty-free lifestyle! It's not just for hippies anymore. Just ask Zooey Deschanel. But heed my warnings and stay far away from the yogurt and cheese.

mum jams: Aerodynamic - Daft Punk

homemade fruit leather! VEGAN FRIENDLY!

This is awesome. Forget the fruit roll-ups, it's time to get a little crafty and make some fruit leather at home with our kids. Mine's too young, but I'm blogging about it to keep it in mind in the future.

I found this recipe on Apartment Therapy, and they found it on Instructables.

1. You will need fruit, pick your favorite. You can use anything from frozen, to fresh from the garden! For this I used two mangos, a half a bag of fresh cherries, and a lemon. As for tools/appliances, you will need a cutting bored, a knife, a blender, a pot and stove, something to mix with, a cooking sheet, and an oven.
2. Preheat your oven to 200ºF, if you have a convection oven I recommend using it, if not a regular bake will do. Next blend your fruit together. No need to add any sweetener. I do strongly recommend using lemon juice though, just as much as you can get out of a single lemon. Blend until smooth. Make sure you are not getting any pits or seeds from the lemon in it
3. Next, you want to pour it in a pot and bring it to a boil, I put it on medium high heat. Once it starts to simmer, make sure that you keep it in motion. It does not need to be in constant motion, but the bottom needs to keep from burning. It should get fairly thick. You want it to be boiling for a few minutes. The goal is, to get it thick enough to the point it will not spread too much when you pour it on a flat surface. You will notice that it is slower to fill the space when you move it, and will all fall in clumps.
4. Pour your fruit on a baking sheet (I used parchment paper, just because I use it with everything I put on a baking sheet, but it should not stick to much if you rather not use it) it does not need to still be boiling, but it shouldn't be too cold either. Smooth it out*, and pop it in the oven that has already been preheated to 200°F. Leave it for at least an hour. You will know it is done when you can touch it, without any coming off on your fingers.
5. My favorite way to serve these fruity snacks is to cut them into long strips, roll them up, and place a cute sticker on them. You could also use a cookie cutter to make them fun shapes though!