I had a fabulous cocktail this summer in Newport, Rhode Island; they called it a Hot Summer Love. Jalapeno-infused tequila with muddled watermelon and sour mix, and if I recall correctly it was topped off with club soda. Well, I infused the tequila a couple weeks ago, acquired the watermelon last week, and this week I finally got around to making the sour mix from scratch. Too bad I forgot the club soda. So what I have come up with tonight is basically a jalapeno-watermelon margarita, and I do enjoy it!!!
I have had such a long day today: farmer's market, check in at HQ, short 45 min hike with Jenn O, store, home, make dinner, make huge mess in kitchen, and I still have clean this huge mess and pack the car for work tomorrow. BOO.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sweet Orange Icing
I had a really nice massage today--I wish I could go every week instead of every 6 months! So I am feeling pretty relaxed on this sunny Monday.
The chocolate cake from Thursday came out very well; it was not too sweet and had a nice texture and light but firm consistency. Since my birthday girl was allergic to nuts and hated cream cheese, I opted for a citrus flavored icing. So here is my personal creation:
Sweet Orange Icing (half batch)
1 and 3/4 C powdered sugar
1/2 t orange extract (I usually find these at TJMaxx, Homegoods and Marshalls)
1 t vanilla extract
2 T milk
1/4 C very soft unsalted butter
1/2 t dried orange peel (I used Penzey's)
Blend all of the above with electric mixer, adding 1/4 C powdered sugar if necessary.
This is enough to realistically cover the top of a 9"x13" cake or 24 cupcakes with light layer or icing. If you are going to frost the sides of a cake I would definitely double the amounts. Mine was a little liquidy the first time, maybe due to the fact that I had totally melted the butter. But this did make it easy to apply to my cake, I just poured the icing on in a line down the center and then gently brought it to the edges with a spatula. I don't like clear vanillas, so this is a warm off-white icing. Since I had left my cake in the pan for time/travel purposes I just did a border of rainbow sprinkles around the edges to make it a bit more professional.
Well, now I am off to go Rustoleum my new/old filing cabinet and to clean up the dirt from my cats knocking over my plants.
The chocolate cake from Thursday came out very well; it was not too sweet and had a nice texture and light but firm consistency. Since my birthday girl was allergic to nuts and hated cream cheese, I opted for a citrus flavored icing. So here is my personal creation:
Sweet Orange Icing (half batch)
1 and 3/4 C powdered sugar
1/2 t orange extract (I usually find these at TJMaxx, Homegoods and Marshalls)
1 t vanilla extract
2 T milk
1/4 C very soft unsalted butter
1/2 t dried orange peel (I used Penzey's)
Blend all of the above with electric mixer, adding 1/4 C powdered sugar if necessary.
This is enough to realistically cover the top of a 9"x13" cake or 24 cupcakes with light layer or icing. If you are going to frost the sides of a cake I would definitely double the amounts. Mine was a little liquidy the first time, maybe due to the fact that I had totally melted the butter. But this did make it easy to apply to my cake, I just poured the icing on in a line down the center and then gently brought it to the edges with a spatula. I don't like clear vanillas, so this is a warm off-white icing. Since I had left my cake in the pan for time/travel purposes I just did a border of rainbow sprinkles around the edges to make it a bit more professional.
Well, now I am off to go Rustoleum my new/old filing cabinet and to clean up the dirt from my cats knocking over my plants.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Emergency Birthday Cake
I totally forgot that I was supposed to make a birthday cake for my friend Anne! So having limited time and no money I Google searched "quick cake recipe" and resulted with Country Living Magazine's Chocolate "Dump Cake." So I decided to give it a go--substituting grapeseed oil for the butter, and using a 9x13" Pyrex. The batter seemed fairly liquidy--but I've had amazing results with liquidy batters in the past so I am not too worried. Smells great in the oven now! Here is the recipe link below, I will report back tomorrow with the results!
Easy Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe
Good luck!
Easy Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe
Good luck!
Cookies for Breakfast.
Last year I made Rosemary-Kissed Orange-Thumbprint cookies from a magazine recipe that a friend gave me by the pool one day. They were FANTASTIC--although I did not use the almond extract at the time because I thought I was still allergic to nuts. I am over that now thank God!!! I must have been reacting to something at one point though. Even my almond massage lotion would make me react. I may have lost the recipe, but was able to Google search and find it again! Click the link below to experience one of the best cookies I've ever had (I was the fat kid so that's high praise by the way).
Rosemary-Kissed Orange-Thumbprint Cookies
I experimented with agave and cookies last night--they taste great but do not end up crispy/chewy--more cakey than anything. I think that agave would best be substituted in those large cakey cookies with frosting--like the pumpkin cookies or the black and white ones. I was in need of some serious chocolate a couple weeks ago, I made a box mix of Ghiradeli brownies with grapeseed oil and they were indeed perfectly chewy and crusty--which is what I look for in a brownie. A little hard to get out of my glass Pyrex pan in the beginning I have to say. But it lasted my boyfriend and I two weeks because we didn't share!
My next experiment will be to make cookies with grapeseed oil. I'm probably going to start with 1/2 butter 1/2 grapeseed oil to begin with. Or if anyone has any good cookie recipes that use Canola oil??? I had some Canola cookies at Whole Foods that were bangin' and I'm sure it can be done! And in case anyone ever actually reads this, grapeseed oil makes very nice cake/cupcakes as well!!! Light and fluffy!
Rosemary-Kissed Orange-Thumbprint Cookies
I experimented with agave and cookies last night--they taste great but do not end up crispy/chewy--more cakey than anything. I think that agave would best be substituted in those large cakey cookies with frosting--like the pumpkin cookies or the black and white ones. I was in need of some serious chocolate a couple weeks ago, I made a box mix of Ghiradeli brownies with grapeseed oil and they were indeed perfectly chewy and crusty--which is what I look for in a brownie. A little hard to get out of my glass Pyrex pan in the beginning I have to say. But it lasted my boyfriend and I two weeks because we didn't share!
My next experiment will be to make cookies with grapeseed oil. I'm probably going to start with 1/2 butter 1/2 grapeseed oil to begin with. Or if anyone has any good cookie recipes that use Canola oil??? I had some Canola cookies at Whole Foods that were bangin' and I'm sure it can be done! And in case anyone ever actually reads this, grapeseed oil makes very nice cake/cupcakes as well!!! Light and fluffy!
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