Well, we’re back and I hope you all had a fabulous week. This past Wednesday was the beginning of my online business class. When I signed up for this class I knew we couldn’t really afford it but I signed up anyway. I had taken this attitude of – I am just going to move forward anyway with no hesitations, left to my faith that the money will present itself if it is meant to be. All I needed to do was the footwork. Well, Tuesday was here and I was still not sure how I was going to pay for the class so Tuesday morning I got on the phone with the registrar for the class and asked if they had a scholarship for the class as I had no extra money to pay for the $150 class. He said that he needed some sort of proof of situation like a disability letter, proof of unemployment or a paycheck stub. I thought to myself, there is no way I am going to be approved for this but I am just going to proceed and see what happens. When trying to print out a paycheck stub from our HR site I asked my friend/boss Lorna for some help. After explaining my situation to her she helped me to get it printed out, which I did. I should mention that I had recently been laid of from my job and then at the last minute my last day was pushed back a couple of months. Anyway, she then said to me, “you know, when we knew you were leaving, we took up a collection for you but then you weren’t leaving for another few months and I still have the collection. With the permission of all the donators we would like to give you the money for the class”… This just solidified my beliefs. It felt so incredible. It was such an amazing feeling and it came from people who are so amazing, people I love with all my heart and who are my guardian angels in this world. Thank you so much my friends for such a generous gift. I can’t say thank you enough. So….first class is done and was an amazing experience. 12 more weeks to go. I will be presenting questions along the way in this blog so feel free to answer them as they are presented to you. And on we go….
Now getting down to the nitty the gritty of it all…THE FOOD.
IN TODAY’S KITCHEN:
PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP BACON COOKIES!
That’s right. You heard it. These cookies make your house smell amazing. The original recipe I tried is a Food Network recipe. The only problem is, and I have found this when using Food Network Recipes….there are errors in their recipes. This recipe is an example of this. I am posting the original recipe with a PERSONAL NOTE/SUGGESTION: the dough tends to be a little dry so adding more butter will help, well more butter always helps doesn’t it ;- ) but not necessary. You be the judge. you need to have fun and experiment with recipes, that’s half the fun of it.
INGREDIENTS:
1/14 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of chipotle or ancho chile powder. I prefer and used ancho chile powder.
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 strips of BACON
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (NOTE: according to Giada De Laurentis, unsalted is better use when baking, so we better listen to Giada, or not, just thought I would add that suggestion. I’ve baked both ways and not noticed much of a difference)
1/2 creamy peanut butter (NOTE: I use natural peanut butter because IT’S BETTER FOR YOU)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (NOTE: You can also chose to use a Splenda or stevia baking mix to cut the sugar if you chose.)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (NOTE: there’s also a Splenda brown sugar baking mix you can use instead if you chose)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (NOTE: I always use a high quality vanilla because it has a richer taste)
1/2 cup roughly chopped honey-roasted peanuts
1/3 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips (NOTE: I love to use Guittard chocolate chips).
1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, chile powder and salt in a large bowl
2
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings and set aside to cool. Crumble the bacon, discarding any chewy bits.
3
Beat the butter and reserved bacon drippings in a large bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the granulated and light brown sugar until creamy, about 4 minutes, then add the egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes.
4
Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 additions, scraping down the bowl as needed, until just combined. Stir int he peanuts and all but 2 tablespoons each of the chocolate chips and bacon.
5
Form the dough into 12 balls and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten with your fingers because the cookies will not spread in the oven (NOTE: If you do end up adding more butter to the recipe the cookies will spread out more, also, I use the ball of my hand); press the reserved bacon and chocolate chips on top. Bake until golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
(NOTE: it should make 12 cookies)
So I have to say that when I made these I started in the evening and went to bed with the warm comforting smell of cookies and bacon wafting through the house. I don’t eat bacon or red meat for that matter but the smell of bacon is intoxicating. I made these for my husband who is the Bacon King. He’ll eat bacon on or in anything and he loves these cookies. Also, in this recipe I did not add the extra butter. The first time I made them I did add butter. Again I encourage you to use your own intuition, creativity, curiosity and play around with recipes.
On another note, a couple weekends ago I co-hosted a Pampered Chef party with my friend Lisa Harvey. I just love these things. Chef catalogs, chef or cooking products and cooking stores like Sur La Table are like Disneyland to me. I get overwhelmed with all the gadgets that make you want to say “What? They make a tool for that. Cool”. Typically at a Pampered Chef party you will have a food demo which demos the Pampered Chef products. We made Monte Cristo Puffs and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filled Strawberries.
MINI MONTE CRISTO PUFFS
INGREDIENTS
4 slices white sandwich bread
4 oz (125 g) sliced deli ham
4 oz (125 g) Swiss cheese
2 oz (60 g) cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
2 tbsp (30 mL) strawberry jam
1
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Spray cups of Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut bread into 1/2-in. (1-cm) cubes using Utility Knife. Coarsely chop ham in Manual Food Processor. Grate Swiss cheese using Microplane® Adjustable Coarse Grater.
2
Whisk cream cheese, eggs and mustard in Classic Batter Bowl until smooth; stir in bread, ham and Swiss cheese. Spoon about 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the mixture into each cup of the pan.
3
Bake 10-12 minutes or until puffs are light golden brown. Remove puffs from pan to Stackable Cooling Rack. Spoon jam into a small resealable plastic bag; trim the corner and squeeze jam evenly over puffs.
This recipe makes 24. Nutrients per serving: (1 appetizer): Calories 50, Total Fat 3 g, Saturated Fat 1.5 g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Sodium 120 mg, Carbohydrate 4 g, Fiber 0 g, Protein 3 g
(NOTE: Use the long flat end of the cleaning tool from the Garlic Press to easily remove the puffs from the pan. Sandwich bread is sliced white bread with a squared-off top. You can also use regular sliced white bread for this recipe. You can also mix it up with the jam on top. We also experimented with a Raspberry Jalapeno jelly which brought it to a whole new level. Amazing. EXPERIMENT!
WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE
FILLED STRAWBERRIES
– © 2009 The Pampered Chef used under license.
While the picture doesn’t do these justice please follow the personal note that I added regarding the chocolate drizzle. You can experiment with this as well with maybe a caramel drizzle or anything that you think goes well with strawberry…maybe even a white chocolate drizzle! GO FOR IT
INGREDIENTS
16-20 medium (about 1 1/4″/3cm each) fresh strawberries
1
Stem and hand hull strawberries using Core & More. Cut a very thin slice off pointed end of strawberries to form a flat base. Place strawberries on paper-towel-lined Medium Sheet Pan.
2
Add cream cheese and Vanilla to batter bowl. Whisk until smooth using Stainless Whisk; stir in whipped topping. Spoon filling into Easy Accent® Decorator fitted with open star tip.
3
Place white chocolate morsels in Small Batter Bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 45-60 seconds or until almost melted; stir until smooth. Coarsely chop graham cracker using Food Chopper.
4
Place semi-sweet chocolate morsels into (1-cup/250-mL) Prep Bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 45-60 seconds or until almost melted; stir until smooth. Spoon chocolate into small resealable plastic bag; trim the corner.
Pipe filling evenly into each strawberry. Sprinkle with chopped graham cracker; drizzle with melted chocolate.
(NOTE: First and foremost…the chocolate drizzle on the top, when done according to this recipe the chocolate can be a little thick and not very easy to drizzle. For a glassier, shiny chocolate and a little thinner which makes it easier to drizzle try adding vegetable oil to the chocolate. Also, any crispy cookie can be substituted for the graham cracker, if desired. In Step 5, white chocolate morsels can be substituted for the semi-sweet chocolate morsels, if desired.)
So that’s what I’ve been up to this week. I had planned in making Irish Soda Bread but will probably save that for next week as well as trying these cute little Smores Cups recipe I found. Stay tuned and remember to have fun with the recipes and think outside the box.
I usually have these oracle cards that I read, which I try to read from every day. I’ll pick a card to give me some clarity usually. Today’s card was The Time Guardian – You have time. The divinatory meaning is…feeling pushed for time, that time is moving too fast or too slow, feeling left behind, or that all is moving too forward so fast we are no longer important or relevant. A need to ensure that natural timekeeping is kept. It is likely, when this card comes up, that you may have a theme of running late or of never having enough time, or of feeling that time is not on your side. Not so! (Ha! this was so appropriate for today as I have so much to do today and not sure I have enough time to get it done. I am moving forward knowing I will get it all done.)
The Passion Project 