Daring Bakers Challenge.

My second challenge! woo!

This month Mary of The Sour Dough and Sara of I Like to Cook were given the difficult task of choosing the recipe that would be this month's challenge. They chose Julia Child's French Bread.

I cannot even tell you how terrified I was when I printed the recipe and my printer wouldn't stop spitting out pages! I ended up with 14 pages of french bread instructions! For a brief second I considered bowing out of this one but I couldn't do it. I wanted to prove to myself that I could try a difficult recipe even if I failed.

And boy did I fail.



That was attempt number one. *sigh* They were hard as rocks. The inside was actually tasty but you had to crack open the concrete-like shell to get to it. I realized after they were done that I never moved the oven rack to the top third of the oven and I guess since they were so far away from the heat they didn't want to brown, so I just left them in. For way too long apparently.

The next day I woke up early, handed my motherly duties over to Spencer, and got started on attempt #2.



They aren't pretty, but they were edible!

If you're wondering why I only have two small loaves, well, it was about midnight when I was getting them ready to go in the oven and one piece of dough just really pissed me off. Yeah, that piece never made it to it's final rise.

My dough didn't rise well either time. It rose, but not to the great size that was talked about in the recipe. I'm still not sure what I did wrong either.

Overall the (edible) bread was really good but I don't think I'll attempt it again. It was a lot of fun but I don't think I have the patience to go through it ever again. I did realize that I do enjoy making bread and since then I've made some white bread and a couple loaves of (simpler) french bread.

I am looking forward to next month's challenge though. I bet it's gonna be a good one!

For anyone who wants the recipe, go check out Mary's blog.

Wordless Wednesday.

And this, my fellow bloggers, is what a one year old looks like:



Happy birthday my sweet baby boy!

For more wordless wednesday, go check out 5 Minutes for Mom!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits

I finally got my Baking: From My Home to Yours book in the mail and the little person who wanders around my house all day has taken quite a liking to it:



I'm so excited to get to participate in Tuesdays with Dorie this week and I'm even more excited because Ashley from Eat Me, Delicious chose pecan sour cream biscuits!

I love biscuits. I really, really do. Infact, the kid and I are sharing a Chik-Fil-A chicken biscuit right now (I had a free coupon, get off me.). But unfortunately my biscuit making skills don't extend past popping frozen biscuits in a high powered microwave for 2 minutes and then an oven for 5. Oh the joys of working fast food.

Back to Dorie's biscuits.



These biscuits came out more like scones, but I think I may have overworked the dough slightly. Next time I'm going to try grating frozen butter into the dough instead of using a pastry cutter. See? My first week participating and I learned something new.

The biscuits were really good though. Like, really really good. I'm not ashamed to admit that Spencer and Landon each had one biscuit and I ate the rest.

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
Makes about 12 biscuits)

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup cake flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 cup cold sour cream
1/4 cold whole milk
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Get out a sharp 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour(s), baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a bow. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between-- and that's just right.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients. Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you've got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick gentle kneading-- 3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together. Toss in the pecans and knead 2 to 3 times to incorporate them.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour, pat the dough out with your hands or toll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high. Don't worry if the dough isn't completely even-- a quick, light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of the first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working with them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2-inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer these to the sheet. (The biscuits ca be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept for up to 2 months. Bake without defrosting-- just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown. Transfer them to a serving basket.

Meal Plan Monday.

Busy, busy week. Landon turns 1 on Wednesday so we have pictures, doctor appointments, not to mention cleaning the house for his party on Sunday. Eep.

Monday: Spencer is on his own. Landon and I are going to see my mom since she just got back from Vermont.

Tuesday NY strip steaks, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and caesar salad

Wednesday Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff

Friday: Chicken and stuffing casserole.

Saturday: Leftovers/out.

Sunday: Pork chops and rice (using this recipe but using boneless pork chops instead of chicken

For more MPM, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Olive Oil Crackers.

I didn't know it was possible to make crackers. Well... of course I knew someone, somewhere makes crackers but I didn't think I could make crackers. But 101 Cookbooks told me I could!

So I did.

They aren't pretty. Some of them got puffy and weird. Some got a little burnt. But they were really good! Spencer and I both decided that our favorites were the ones I sprinkled with adobo seasoning. Yum!

King Ranch Casserole.

A few weeks ago there was a lot of talk about king ranch casserole over on the Nest boards and since I'd never heard of it, I was intrigued. I hear "ranch" and think dressing. It's the southern girl in me. I was all, "Ooh! A casserole with ranch dressing?! How did I live 22 years without this?" The lovely Nesties posted a link to Homesick Texan and my dreams came crashing down.

BUT it still sounded good.

As a general rule in our house, Spencer likes anything that contains a can of cream of whatever soup. (He's even been known to eat an entire "family sized" can of cream of mushroom soup. Ick.) So, of course, I chose to go with her "old school" version.

We freakin' loved it. Spencer has started calling it "mexican casserole" (I guess he doesn't get the whole ranch thing either) and has already requested it again.

French Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting.

I don't know what possessed me to make this cake. I don't even like chocolate that much. But I got bored and started looking through Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters again and it called out to me. Plus I had some buttermilk that I needed to use up.

It's probably the best chocolate cake I've ever had. It was light and moist and not too chocolate-y (is that even a word?). The frosting tasted just like a mocha.



French Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting
Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters

2 oz. bitter chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso powder
12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans or three 7-inch cake pans.

To make the cake: Dissolve chocolate in boiling water and let cool.

Sift together flour and baking soda in a bowl.

Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat in. Add chocolate mixture to batter. Add vanilla to buttermilk and combine with batter. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour batter into cake pants. Bake 40 minutes (for 3 cake) or 50 minutes (for 2 cake), or until a tester inserted into middle comes out clean. Set on racks and allow to cool completely.

To make the mocha frosting: Heat heavy cream and coffee in a saucepan on medium heat, stirring until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat. Pour mixture oven chocolate, let sit 5 minutes, and stir to combine. Chill frosting in the refrigerator 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until it is thick enough to spread. Assemble the cake layers, spreading frosting between the layers and on the top and sides. Store wrapped in wax paper in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature half and hour before serving.

Tuesdays with Dorie.

I recently joined Tuesdays with Dorie which is a group of bloggers who are baking their way through Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Last Tuesday they baked this amazing looking brown sugar-apple cheesecake and after seeing it on quite a few blogs that I read I had to join. Right then. But I didn't own the book and since Spencer had (once again) taken my car to work I couldn't just go to the bookstore. And we all know how impatient I am. I ordered it from Amazon and it's still not here! So I didn't get to make the Almost-Fudge Gateau but I'm stalking the mailbox today waiting for the poor mailman to get here.

If you wanna see the Almost-Fudge Gateaux that did get made this week, check out the blogroll and be prepared to drool a little.

Meal Plan Monday.

I don't think I followed my meal plan at all last week. The week was just too crazy. I didn't eat much of anything last week and poor Spencer was left to fend for himself.

So I have a couple of carry-over dishes this time around. And I hope they actually get made this week.

Monday: King ranch casserole

Tuesday: Leftovers.

Wednesday: Baked sausage, tomatoes, and pasta.

Thursday: Leftovers or pizza.

Friday: Meatloaf, hashbrown casserole, and peas.

Saturday: Chicken and biscuits.

Sunday: Out.

For more go visit I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Shrimp Alfredo.

My mom got me a subscription to Taste of Home for Christmas so now I have access to all their online recipes. Yay! I've spent many nights browsing their collection instead of sleeping and that's how I decided on alfredo for last week.

I don't really like alfredo sauce. The only kind I've ever had was either jarred or frozen and both of those are a bit lacking to say the least. But for some reason I decided to make some alfredo sauce.

I didn't like it. At all. Spencer loved it though and polished it all off. I had some cooked shrimp in the freezer so I threw those in. It was such a quick meal. It took all of about 10 minutes for the whole thing to be done so it's kind of disappointing that I didn't like it.

Shrimp Alfredo
adapted from Taste of Home

8 to 12 ounces fettuccini
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1-1/2 cups milk
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cooked shrimp

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute garlic in oil until lightly browned. Stir in the flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper and basil until blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Reduce heat; whisk in cream cheese and Parmesan cheese until smooth. Add shrimp; heat through. Drain pasta; add to sauce and toss to coat.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.

I've never had gumbo.

It's true. I live in Alabama, I have a very Cajun uncle (who I stayed with every summer), and I've never had gumbo. It's not that it hasn't been offered to me... I just don't like dishes with a lot of stuff in it. Plus I'm anti-seafood unless it's covered in batter and fried.

But gumbo just sounds so fun. Say it. Guuuumbbboooo. See? It's fun.

I turned to Cooking Light when I decided to make a gumbo and it turned out great. I didn't like it at first but after it sat overnight it was delicious.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
adapted from Cooking Light

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 of an onion, diced
1/2 of a green bell pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 pound smoked sausage, cut into pieces
2 small cans diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 cups hot cooked rice

Place flour in a large Dutch oven over medium heat; cook 20 minutes or until light brown, stirring constantly with a whisk. (If flour browns too fast, remove pan from heat; stir constantly until it cools down.) Remove flour from pan, and set aside.

Add oil to pan. Stir in onion and bell pepper; cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds. Remove onion mixture from pan; set aside.

Increase heat to medium-high; add sausage to pan. Cook 4 minutes; return onion mixture to pan and add chicken. Remove pan from heat. Sprinkle reserved flour over chicken mixture; stir well. Return pan to medium heat. Drain 1 can tomatoes; stir in 1 can drained tomatoes and 1 can undrained tomatoes. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth, Worcestershire, and bay leaves; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves. Stir in salt, black pepper, and hot sauce. Serve over rice.

Coffee Cake.

When my father finally decided to call me about my mom going in the hospital I, of course, went straight to the kitchen. I needed to bake. It needed to be sweet and possibly chocolate and really, really bad for me. But then I realized I only had one stick of butter and no vanilla! I turned to Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters and those two crazy ladies didn't disappoint.



It's actually supposed to be covered in a streusel topping but the streusel recipe made very little and it didn't occur to me to just make more. Hmph. I had to substitute almond since I was out of vanilla but it turned out really good. Even Spencer liked it and he's not big on coffee cake.

I also decided the cake needed some icing so I just mixed up milk and powdered sugar until I got a good consistency and drizzled it on.

Mary Williams' Coffee Cake with Streusel
from Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters

For streusel:

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Place brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Work in butter with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add pecans and combine.

For cake:

1 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 egg, beater
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 pan with foil, shiny side up. Coat with butter or vegetable spray.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add sugar. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into dry ingredients. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and combine. Place half of batter in pan. Sprinkle half of streusel on top of batter. Add rest of batter to pan and top with remaining streusel.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until tester inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool on rack completely before cutting into squares.

One year ago.

One year ago today, not only did I look like this:



...but I went to work for the last time. That's still so weird to me.

Two years ago if someone had told me that I'd be a 22 year old stay at home mom I would've told them to bite their tongue. And possibly hit them. In the face. Now I honestly can't imagine doing anything else with my life.

My little lovebug has taught me so much about life, and sometimes I think I depend on him more than he depends on me. I don't know what I did in my life to deserve this little guy but apparently I did something right.

And I'm so proud of Spencer. When I met him he was a looooser. I can say this because I married him. Duh. He had a suspended license thanks to about 11 tickets, was living with his ex-stepdad, made $8 an hour, and was doing things that I'm not even going to mention. Two and a half years later he's got his life together. He's found a career that he loves and luckily he makes really good money at it. I'm so lucky that I found him and even luckier that he put up with me.

I can't figure out how to embed the video of Landon walking but if anyone wants to see it, go here. It's sideways, dark, and Spencer's talking to his dad in the background but at least it's a video, right?

Just random.

I just want to explain why I haven't been around much. It's not that I haven't been cooking because, believe me, that's what I do when I'm stressed. So when I finally get time to sit around and make posts I'll probably make 14 of them.

My mother was put in the hospital on Tuesday for chest pains. My mother is a 46 year old woman who runs at least 10 miles a week and is in better shape than anyone I know so it shocked and scared everyone. After keeping her there for almost 48 hours they decided it was a hernia in her esophagus and they think medication will correct it. So she's back at home, back at work, and will be gracing the beautiful state of Vermont with her presence within a matter of days. Watch out Vermont. I'm not joking.

And now I must brag. Landon is officially walking. His new favorite game is to pull up on the coffee table, walk over to whoever happens to be in the room, beg them to pick him up, and then cry to get down. He then crawls back to the coffee table and starts all over again. It goes on for hours.


Yes, he's manly enough for pink. And hearts. And wearing women's clothing.

Meal Plan Monday.

Last week's meal plan went pretty well. I got to everything but the chicken and sausage gumbo. The Shepherd's Pie lasted us much longer than I expected so we just didn't have time for the gumbo. Hopefully it'll get made this week.

Monday: Garlic cheddar chicken, twice baked potatoes, and asparagus.

Tuesday: Leftovers.

Wednesday: Chicken and sausage gumbo with cornbread.

Thursday: Shrimp Alfredo.

Friday: Leftovers.

Saturday: Baked sausage, tomatoes, and pasta.

Sunday: Out.

For more MPM, check out I'm an organizing junkie!

Bacon Pinwheels.

Mmm.. bacon, cream cheese, green onions, crescent rolls...! Does it get any better?

These are so bad for you but oh-so-good. There wasn't a single one left after Spencer and I got done with them. They were so good, in fact, that I might be adding them to my menu for the little Lovebug's first birthday.

I originally saw the recipe over at Blonde Ambition in the Kitchen but since we're all about the fatty goodness around here I went by the original Kraft recipe. Except I substituted green onions for regular onions because the thought of regular onions in this made me feel kind of sick. And I made them into pinwheels because the ones on the Kraft website aren't very fun looking.

Shepherd's Pie.

I've never had shepherd's pie. Never. And up until a week ago I couldn't even begin to tell you what it was. Weird, right? But mashed potatoes on top of meat (with some veggie hidden in the middle) sounded like Spencer's kind of meal.



I obviously went for the biggest potatoes I could find...

We were both really shocked at how much we liked it. Normally will eat leftovers once and then I'll give the rest to the dog but there was nothing left of this one. And there was a ton of it!

Shepherd's Pie
adapted from: AllRecipes

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 onion, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash. In a small saucepan melt butter; add milk and allow to warm. Pour butter and milk mixture slowly into potatoes until they reach the desired consistency. Add 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Preheat oven to 375.

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Cook onion and turkey until onion is translucent and turkey is fully cooked through. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add ketchup. In a separate bowl whisk together water and brown gravy mix; pour over turkey mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Spread the ground turkey in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Layer veggies on top of turkey. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Wordless Wednesday.

(The beast is going after the toy. Just to clear that up.)

For more WW, go here.

Orange Hoisin Chicken.

I get that my chicken looks disgusting. Believe me. Atleast you didn't have to smell it cooking all day. I always forget how much I hate the smell of sesame oil so I keep cooking with it and get sick each time.

But let me tell you... it was pretty good. And it was so tender. I thought it had overcooked since it was so dark but it was perfect. The chicken itself was good but I left the sauce off the tiny piece that I tried. I realized this morning that I was out of honey so that may have contributed to the weirdness of the sauce. I just kinda made a simple syrup and hoped for the best.

Orange Hoisin Chicken
From: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

2 tablespoons Frozen orange juice concentrate -- thawed
1/4 cup Honey
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
3 slices Ginger 1/4 inch thick
3 clove Garlic -- minced
1 tablespoons Sesame oil
6 Chicken breasts skinless, boneless -- DO NOT THAW
2 teaspoons Cornstarch
2 teaspoons Cold water
1 tablespoons Sesame Seeds -- Toasted

In a zippered top plastic bag, combine the orange juice concentrate, honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. One at a time, put the chicken pieces in the bag, seal, and gently shake to coat with the sauce. Transfer the coated chicken to the slow cooker, then pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Cover and cook on LOW until the chicken is tender and cooked through 5 to 6 hours. Transfer the chicken to a warm platter. Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a small saucepan. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water. Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat, add the slurry, and cook, stirring a few times, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour some of the sauce over the chicken and pass the rest on the side. If desired, sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.



Crab rangoon... YUM!

The recipe came from fellow Nestie Joelen. These were far better than any I've had in a restaurant.

I baked mine instead of frying (because Spencer used all my oil on his shrimp). I just put them in a 400 degree oven for 6 minutes, flipped then, and back in for another 6 minutes.

Buttermilk Pound Cake.

Spencer's obsessed with strawberries. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it... but he is. So I wanted to make him a strawberry shortcake but with fresh, food homemade pound cake.



I used this recipe but left out the lemon extract since I didn't have any on hand. It was my first time using my brand new green bundt pan! Yay! It turned out really good. Spencer even took some for breakfast this morning.

Meal Plan Monday.

I think I skipped Meal Plan Monday last week. We had a hugely busy week and I hardly cooked anything at all. All of Spencer's family came down from Michigan, Illinois, and Texas for a funeral so we went out to dinner with them 27 times. Or so it feels like.

Things are finally back to normal and I'll hopefully be able to get back into a routine. I'm no good unless I'm following a schedule.

Monday: Chicken and Biscuits

Tuesday: Orange Chicken on Rice with Crab Rangoon

Wednesday: Shepherd's Pie with bacon pinwheels

Thursday: Chicken and Sausage Gumbo with cornbread

Friday: Leftovers/out

Saturday: Nacho Mac & Cheese

Sunday: Leftovers/out

For more MPM check out I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Superbowl.

When I asked Spencer what he wanted to eat during the superbowl he said shrimp. That's all. I had expected a long list of appetizers but he just wanted some fried shrimp. AND he said he would going to fry it himself. All he wanted me to do was make the batter, some coleslaw, and cornbread.


Spencer and Trevor hard at work.



We had five pounds of shrimp and the batter was 2 cups of beer, 2 cups of flour, and a tablespoon of salt. I think it could've used more salt but the boys had no complaints.



Coleslaw

bag of Coleslaw mix
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup mayo

Whisk vinegar, sugar, and mayo together. Mix in coleslaw mix.

I'm ashamed to say that the cornbread was Jiffy. I have a deep love for Jiffy cornbread and no matter how many I try I always go back to it. I just can't help myself.

Chicken and Rice.

This is one of Spencer's favorite meals. And I like it because it's easy to throw together on busy days and because it's really cheap!

Chicken and Rice

1/2 cup butter
1 cup uncooked rice
1 can chicken broth
packet Lipton onion soup mix
whatever chicken pieces you want

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Once melted add rice, broth, and soup mix. Lay chicken pieces on top. Cover and bake for 1 hour.