Mickey Shortbread Cookies ... Baking with Little A

Baking with my girl…..

Foodie nerds that we are, we watch a lot of the cooking competition shows and evil parents that we are we make the kids watch with us. As much as they will tell you the contrary they actually like watching them with us, especially “Master Chef Junior”. Little A is convinced that she is going to be on the show  “When I'm really big, like 8 or something.”

 I figure it’s time to let her start helping in the kitchen. What better project for a three year old then cookies? We made some fantastic shortbread cookies (mickey shaped of course!) and little A did a ton of the work. They turned out SO yummy! Who knows maybe she will be berated by Mr. Ramsey in a few years.

Shortbread Cookies (Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe)

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

·         Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Directions
 

Mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the flour and salt, (I use Martha’s trick of mixing them up with a Wisk instead of sifting!) then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a shaped cutter of your choice (I like mickey!). Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

                       Enjoy!!

It's Cookie Time!!!

 

It’s that time of year again. We had our annual “Twister” cooking making extravaganza.  It was a GREAT time (as always). Alexander had a blast but ran outta steam earlier this year, Addison REALLY tried at first but devolved into “Monster Cookies” and Mom pulled a fast one and did a batch and a half of dough this year so the “elves” had LOTS to do! One of my FAVORITE traditions!

Cookie Girls!

Cookie Boys!

 

Amazing Easy Peach Salsa

I absolutely adore peaches. They are by far my favorite fruit. Nothing is better than a fresh picked ripe peach. I typically serve them up like my Mom always has; chopped with a heavy heaping of sugar. It’s absolutely delicious but I’m sure it is probably the LEAST healthy way to eat fresh fruit imaginable. I have been thinking up fun and different ways to serve up peaches and decided to try a fresh salsa. If I do say so myself… Wowzas! It is fantastic. The spicy peppers are such a fantastic compliment to the fresh sweet peaches. To sounds like a crazy foodie, it’s a wonderful balance of flavors.

Try this Fast, delicious recipe with your harvest….

Jenn’s Fresh Peach Salsa

2 Medium Peaches (peeled)

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

¼ Red Onion

½ Jalapeno Pepper (Seeded)

1 Tbl chopped Cilantro (more or less to taste)

1 Lime

Salt & Pepper

 

Chop first 5 ingredients (Finely chop jalapeno and onion) and add to bowl

 

Squeeze juice from lime over all chopped ingredients

 Add salt and pepper to taste

Mix and enjoy!

 

 

See easy peasy!!

Breakfast Muffin "Egg McMuffins"

This is a FANTASTIC breakfast recipe that is actually pretty easy to do but makes you look like you are quite the chef. I used a Rachel Ray Recipe as my jumping off point and have refined it over the last couple of years. If you want to sound all fancy call it a "reconstructed egg sandwich" I call it "Egg McMuffin Muffins". Whatever you call it it's sure to please your breakfast bunch.

The below list makes 4 Muffins, Easy to Double, Triple Etc..

Ingredients:

Butter (For Greasing the Pan)
4 Slices of White Bread
2 Slices Kraft American Cheese (Quartered)
2 Slices Canadian Bacon (Halved)
4 Eggs

Instructions:

Pre-Heat Oven to 350 Degrees

Generously Butter Muffin Pan

Use a Rolling Pin to Gently Flatten your Bread Slices

Cut Bread into Large Circles (I use a 4" Bowl as a Guide)
Then Cut in Half

Gently (you don't want holes) push 2 bread halves into
Muffin cup to create your Bread Shell

Brown 2 Slices of Canadian Bacon
(On Medium, One Minute Each side)

Press 1 1/4 slice American cheese in the bottom of your bread cup

Add 1/2 slice Canadian Bacon

Add an egg to each cup (it might overflow a bit, that's fine)

Bake 25 minutes ( Or until egg is fully set)

Add another 1/4 slice of american cheese and put back in the oven for a couple of minutes (until melted)

The bread gets Toasted while the Egg is Cooking and the Cheese gets melted...
Delicious!

 

AMAZING, EASY "Wingers" Wing Sauce - Perfect for the Super Bowl

We love the sticky wing sauce at "Wingers" restaurant's. It is the perfect blend of spicy and sweet. Awhile ago Costco started selling the sauce. We loved it, we bought the insanely huge jars and loved our "wingers" nights at home. Then all of a sudden...BLAM, Costco quit selling it.  Let me tell you, it was a sad day in our house. I however was not going to be deterred! I found then tweaked a DIY wing sauce that is SO close to "Wingers" it's crazy! We love it with Tyson chicken strips and something Ore-Ida for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. It would be PREFCET for your Super Bowl party! Here is the "complicated" recipe....

DIY "Wingers" Sauce

1/3 Cp "Frank's" Hot Sauce
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tbl Water

In a small saucepan mix all ingredients over medium heat stirring ocasionally until the sugar is melted and it just starts to boil. It will be VERY runny, cool before serving to thinken it up (I usually throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes to quickly thicken it... I have no patence!)

Serve over Wings, chicken fingers... the possibilities are endless!!!

The ingredents (plus water!)

We love these drowning in the sauce!

 

Truly AMAZING creamy chicken noodle soup

 

Have you ever created a new recipe and got it all dished out, tasted it and thought “Damn! That’s SO good!”, but then felt kinda weird to say it because… well, you made it? Well I am not going to be coy, this recipe was AMAZING!!!  My Favorite restaurant here in Salt Lake City (Little America Coffee Shop) makes the most amazing creamy chicken noodle soup. It is crazy expensive to buy as take out and only available on Sundays (soup of the day) so I decided to try and concoct a copy cat recipe. I snooped around pinterest and brought together elements from several recipes and added a few twists of my own and Voila! It turned out just as good if not (dare I say it???) better!

Jenn’s Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 Tbsp. Chicken Bullion
3 cups chicken broth
8 carrots (2 cups), chopped
5 celery stalks (2 cups), chopped
1/2 onion (3/4 cup), chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup half and half
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded (I boil mine for 30 minutes with ½ an onion for added flavor)
2 1/2 cups noodles egg noodles, cooked

Optional: 1 Tbsp. Fresh Thyme, 1 tsp fresh Rosemary(chopped), I tsp fresh sage (chopped)

Bring Broth, Bullion and Vegetables (carrots, celery and onion) to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes (till veggie’s are tender)

Combine soup and half and half, add Chicken and noodles. Then add the vegetables and the broth they were simmering in. Stir together (add fresh herbs now if using) and simmer 5- 10 minutes.

I even Got Big A's seal of approval

"Mommy, this is DE-LISH-IOUS! I LOVE it!"

"Birthday Cake" Cookies

I realized it has been well over a month since I last posted a cookie recipe....far too long! Here is a fun one that you can easily adapt for any holiday (just change the color of sprinkles you use!). It's easy, your kids can help and it makes up some awesome chewy, flavorful cookies.

Birthday Cake Cookies

 Makes 2 Dozen

1 box white cake mix (18.25 oz)

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C Sprinkles (Pick your Color to match the occasion!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mix together the dry cake mix and baking powder. Add the egg, oil and vanilla to the cake mixture stir to combine. Grab your "helpers" to sprinkle in the sprinkles! Stir in the sprinkles.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes (I turn the sheet at 5 minutes for more even baking). Bake until lightly browned (don't over bake).They will be very soft at first and need to cool a bit to harden up enough to pick up. Let sit for 5 minutes after baking before you try to move them from the tray then enjoy.

 

 

Christmas Cookies

We did our annual Christmas Cooking baking over the weekend. The favorite is a Greek cookie "Koulourakia" that we call "Twisters". The whole crew got in on the cookie making festivities. Here are some fun pics of the revelry.

 Happy Holidays!!

The finished product...YUM!!!