NikitaThis week I asked everyone to make a treat with a twist. Yes, Halloween is around the corner, but really I had this cake on the brain. My coworker asked me to make her 3-year old daughter a Frozen-themed cake for her birthday party. Of course, I obliged. BUT.....this one is special. The cake batter is marbled with purple and white vanilla cake, and the top tier has a secret compartment storing sprinkles. When it is cut open for that first slice, a mixture of blue and white sprinkles will come pouring out. I don't have a picture yet of the inside because the party was today (Saturday) and I happened to leave my phone in our CA hotel. I am waiting on it to be shipped back to me. I will most definitely share as soon as I have a pic. GeorgiaNikita challenged everyone to make a treat with a twist. Well as per my norm this week got away from me.. again. So I made French Onion soup.. With no bread. I know.. Bold AND Daring. Still delish, but the bread under the cheese really makes a huge difference JenLast week of school volleyball for my older daughter - sitting at her end of season tournament at the moment. Last night I made my treat with a trick - they're chocolate chip cookies...made with sweet potato! First batch in the oven came out a bit lumpy, and the remaining dough I overworked. Somewhere in between would have been best. AmyNot totally sure if this is what Nikita had in mind but here you go: Happy birthday to Nikita's son Christopher. He's officially a teenager now.
Until next week, have a safe and happy Halloween Nikita, Georgia, Jen and Amy
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AmyIt was my turn to pick our challenge and I wanted soup and a sammich. Not the damn tomato soup and grilled cheese that everyone just loves. Whatever. The weather here did a complete turn around. We went from above average temperatures to below average temperatures in less than 24 hours. It is nippy noodles kids. So I picked a great challenge. I have this Rachael Ray cookbook entitled My Year in Meals. It is a month by month food journal and I scanned October and found a soup and sandwich combo that sounded perfect for this blustery weather. Mind this cookbook isn't Ms. Ray's typical 30 minute recipes. So this meal takes a tad longer. Still under an hour though. NikitaFull Disclosure: I intended on making Panera Bread copycat Tomato Bisque with my sandwich but I bought the wrong size cans of tomatoes and did not have enough to complete the recipe. I just never made it back to the store..... I present my Roast Beef Sandwich on toasted Sourdough Bread with Smoked Gouda Cheese and all the normal fixins (L,T, Mayo, Must). Watch for pointy toothpicks that hold the sandwich together! I paired it with refreshing lemonade. Today we are watching Christopher and his soccer team kick butt at a local tournament. This was a quick lunch between games but perfect for a beautiful, sunny day. Check out my Panera Bread copycat Tomato Bisque recipe on Saturday Bites Soup edition. I love dipping this sandwich in tomato soup. It's my favorite lunch if I need to grab something quick while I'm out. GeorgiaOkay.. Initial thought was to go soup and sandwiches. But I found this Italian Meatball Minestrone soup and. It looked yummy and filling.. and Well a hunk of sourdough bread seemed a better fit. So we had this for dinner. No regrets.. Delish JenBusy week – I ate random leftovers for lunch. I do enjoy grilled cheese and tomato soup though. Let’s just pretend I made that. 😉 Funny..
When we all thought about our favorite lunch combos we all thought to pair soup and sandwiches Of course the possibilities are endless Until next week, Amy, Nikita, Georgia and Jen JenWe love raisins – as a snack, in cookies, muffins, oatmeal, etc. Typically sweet treats or breakfast foods. However, the recipe I chose this week uses raisins in an unexpected way. It’s actually one I’ve made many times over the years. :) You can use any type of chunky salsa, and I typically double the recipe… AmyRaisins aka humiliated grapes.I am not a fan of regular raisins. I can tear up and dried fruit but raisins. So I asked if I could use golden raisins. I chose a recipe that would work for every dried fruit even those nasty little fuckers those sickos would hand out little boxes of on Halloween. I'd rather have ended up tripping balls on laced Zagnuts than eat a single raisin. Some people just wanted their homes toilet papered in our neighborhood. So they handed out raisins. Well meaning adults can be real assholes. See how worked up this challenge has gotten me? Whatever. Here's a recipe for bomb ass trail mix. By the way, someone's house is getting tp'ed over this. NikitaI took some time off this week because Christopher was out of school for Fall Break, and Blu needed to be neutered. At the start of my vacation, I made a few challenges for myself. One of which was to make a Viennese Apple Strudel like we had in Austria. It is made with rum-soaked raisins and a very light, flaky crust. Well....to be honest, I wimped out. I talked myself out of it because the recipe indicated that it would be best if you had a KitchenAide Dough Hook to knead the dough ball; I don't have one (insert "The Christmas Story" Christmas idea hint here). So instead, I made this Apple Rum Raisin Cake and used the Stroh Rum we brought back from our trip in 2016 to Austria. Christopher even made the glaze and poured it on. This cake makes for a great dessert or breakfast! Matt ate a piece this morning with coffee. #YOLO GeorgiaI woke up this morning after a very busy week and still hadn't made my dish for this week. And just to give you an idea of how busy this week was. We just got home from being gone all day volunteering at a fundraiser for Angel Flight. (check them out at http://www.angelflightsc.org/ ) Thankfully before heading out I made these tasty biscuits (the name is bun, but they are more like English biscuits) The husband like these so well he had at least 2 of them and mentioned several times that they were good I like them because they were not sweet at all. Until next week,
Jen, Amy, Nikita and Georgia FYI, today is Amy's birthday. So a special shout out to my lil sis. Love you Ames!! gigi Georgia It was my week to choose the food challenge and as per my norm I asked the hubs what he would like and. He said pumpkin spice. Like he's ever had anything pumpkin spice. But I like pumpkin spice and actually had several ideas of what I'd like to make. Sadly with Randy starting back to work this past week it changed our domestic dynamics. (ie I had to start doing more things around the house) I did however make these keto bagels (stop back by tomorrow for the recipe). I made a fairly basic recipe, not adding anything to them. Because they were simple I decided to make a flavorful cream cheese for them. I saw this as the perfect place to add my pumpkin spice. I winged it on the recipe.
JenI thought I would be clever this week and combine this week’s theme with the one before that I missed! “Pear pumpkin spice cake” is like a pineapple upside-down cake essentially. It’s pretty tasty, but it was a pain to make, so I doubt I will do this one again. And I prefer my pineapple cake anyway AmyIt's Pumpkin Spice Everything season! Woo hoo! If only the crisp Autumn weather would stick around. I decided to search for a savory pumpkin spice dish. It took a bit of searching on the world wide web for just the right dish. At last I found this delightful breakfast bowl. Spicy, savory and relatively healthy. While the original recipe is dairy and meat free I adjusted slightly because I was unable to find vegetarian breakfast links ( I used turkey sausage links instead) and I prefer cheese in my grits. I had some smoked gouda that I diced and tossed in to melt. Otherwise I stayed true to the recipe in using unsweetened almond milk and an avocado based spread. And since I had cheese in my grits I decided to pass on the toast. Also, I made my own pumpkin spice because I often find the premade spice to contain more nutmeg than I prefer. Pumpkin Spice Grits Breakfast Bowl "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables NikitaThis week, Pumpkin Spice was on the menu! Fall has arrived. The weather just dipped into the 70s as the high, and we can start opening our windows to bring in the cool crisp air. I heart this time of year! Starbucks launches their Pumpkin Spice Lattes, but I don't drink coffee (It's gross!) One time, I ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte not realizing they would put espresso in it, and I swear it sprayed out of my mouth the moment it touched my tongue. Yuck! The Starbucks barista was kind enough to make me what I now know as a Pumpkin Spice Steamer. It's essentially warm milk with their pumpkin flavoring in it, and it's almost $5.00 for the tall. I'm pretty good with a sauce pan and range, so I figured I can handle warming some milk. But instead of adding syrup flavoring, I added real pumpkin, vanilla, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Christopher took a sip and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Yes, it's THAT good. Takes 10 minutes and saves you dollars. You're welcome. Pumpkin Spice everything makes fall oh so delicious..
Love how Jen managed a twofer on this one. Melding last weeks pears with this weeks pumpkin spice. And for reals, whoever would've thought about pumpkin spice grits. And if Nikita's pumpkin spice steamers gets the almost teenager's approval it must be delish. Pumpkin spice really is the flavors of fall. Until next week, Georgia, Jen, Amy and Nikita |
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