The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for the ‘FOOD!’ Category

What can you do with zucchini? That was my question last week when I returned to work, after an extended weekend, and was told there was zucchini in the newsroom. But then my question was quickly answered when one of our interns sent out a mass email saying her mom made zucchini bread! There it is! I can do that. I love to bake. But, do I like zucchini bread? So I had to taste it, and I toasted it, the way I like banana nut bread. Um, YUM! So I rushed back into the newsroom and there was one zucchini left. Well, I doubted that I could do anything with one zucchini, but it’s worth a try.

So, being the investigator I am, I Google’d “Zucchini bread recipe, one zucchini”. I found tons of recipes for two zucchinis and ended up just halving a recipe and bam, I am ready for baking.

And what makes it better, I had my zucchini and all I needed other than that was walnuts and cinnamon. That’s the perk of baking a lot!

So, here’s the recipe from Allrecipes.com:
Ingredients: For two zucchini (one in parenthesis)
3 cups all-purpose flower (1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon baking powder (1/2 teaspoon)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (1 1/2 teaspoon)
3 eggs (1 1/2 eggs)
1 cup vegetable oil (1/2 cup)
2 1/4 cups white sugar (1 cup 2 tablespoons)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (1 1/2 teaspoons)
2 cups grated zucchini (1 cup)
1 cup chopped walnuts (2/3 cup and 1 tablespoon)

Directions:
Grease and flour two 8×4 inch pans (one pan for one zucchini)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in bowl
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in large bowl
Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well
Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined
Pour batter into pans

Bake for 40-60 minutes or until tester inserted in the center (toothpick) comes out clean

I think I put in a little more cinnamon than the recipe required, but I think that made it better. I love cinnamon, so I will always add a tad, or spoonful extra.

I can always tell if my baking is a success depending on my husband. I like almost every baked good I make, so I’m not a good judge. I have a sweet tooth that is never tamed.  I had doubts that my husband would like the zucchini bread. He told me before I made it he wasn’t a big fan. But, he ended up loving it!!! (thanks to the extra cinnamon I am sure) So this is definitely a recipe that I know I can make in the future. I do kind of feel bad though because I told my parents I would bring them some bread, but it didn’t last long in our house. I had to have a piece after every meal, and for a snack. I wish there would have been two zucchinis.

If you have some variations that you like to add to your zucchini bread, please let me know. I heard about putting chocolate chips in it. Yum!

Like most women, Grace Mills craves to be perfect. She reluctantly hits the treadmill every morning, but treats herself to one of her homemade cranberry scones if she sees the man who is a treat to her eyes.

When Grace has an accident on the treadmill, somehow she ends up in another life. She has the man and an awesome job and people love her and she is perfect from head-to-toe. But when you mess fate, not everything stays the same. After a couple more accidents and hopping back and forth from Grace to perfect, she has to determine which life she wants to stay in for good before time runs out.

This book is a modern-day Babes in Toyland. Grace wakes up in a whole different world…although it may not be as real as she thinks.

In this book, Fichera found a very creative way for her main character to tackle her problems. There are many people who think the grass is always greener. And while you may have the nice car and the hot boyfriend, the hot boyfriend may be a douchebag and the car may just sit in the parking lot because someone always drive you around. There may be some things that are better, but it never fails that you always have to lose something in order to gain those one or two things. And it’s never something simple. It’s always big, like family or friends, or a crush that you haven’t gotten enough of just yet.

Now I got much more than a life lesson out of this book. I also got an amazing recipe. In this book, Grace is a baker who makes a mean cranberry scone. Within the first couple of chapters of this book, my mouth was watering. I love baking, but had never made scones before. I started looking up recipes and tweeted my plans and Liz Fichera herself tweeted me to make sure I saw Grace’s scone recipe in the back of the book. So of course, I had to use that recipe.

I actually made these scones one night while my husband was out of town… at like 10 p.m. If I lived by myself, I would have horrible time management and be up baking all night.

I was very nervous starting this recipe. It seemed simple enough, but it always makes me nervous trying something new. I have perfected a few cupcakes and am starting to branch out, but I’m nervous for baking failure. But…. although they weren’t beautiful to look at, these scones were AMAZING! Something completely different than I am used to making. I imagine the next time, I’ll do a few things different, like  not start at 10 p.m. and now I have a better idea of how the recipe works so I’m not flying blind.

Speaking of recipe, I want to share it with you, courtesy Liz Fichera.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small squares
3/4 cup raspberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Generous amounts of jazz music

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375
Place rack in the middle of the over
Line baking sheet with parchment paper
In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Blend the butter into the flour until it looks coarse
Stir in raspberries
In separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, vanilla extract and egg
Add this to flour mixture and stir until dough begins to form
Don’t overmix
Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead dough gently no more than 6 times
Pat or roll dough into a circle until it’s 7 inches around and 1.5 inches thick
Cut the dough into 8 triangles and place on baking sheet
Bake for 20 mins. or until golden brown
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and place under broiler for a few seconds
Cool and eat

After I made this recipe and am looking back on the directions, I’m not quite sure I did the mixing correctly. I don’t know if I overmixed or if I kneaded too much or enough. I think after making them a second time, I’ll be a better judge and they were definitely good enough to do again. Oh and I had a broiler issue. I thought I turned on my broiler, but I turned on the over as high as it will go and I couldn’t figure out what the deal was. Needless to say, the topping didn’t quite melt as it should. I would suggest that after you sprinkle the powdered sugar on the scones, change it to a clean piece of parchment. If you sprinkle extra and it gets all over the pan, it’ll burn quickly and stink up the kitchen.

Anywho, I give Craving Perfect AND the Scone Recipe both 5 bookmarks… or 5 baking pans if you will.

ISBN:  9781426891939
Released: July 25, 2011
Author Website
Kari got this book from NetGalley

I’ve been getting into the kitchen a lot more lately and I love it. My baking goal for the year was at least once a month. I didn’t follow it month-wise, but I’m almost caught up recipe-wise. One thing I want to be better at next year is cooking dinner.

My husband and I normally go our own way for dinner during the week. By the time we both get home and get settled, it’s nearly 8 p.m. and neither of us want to eat a huge meal, or cook one that late. So we normally throw something in the microwave or eat a sammich.

But Sunday is my cooking day. I wake up on Sunday mornings with a hankering for a good homemade meal. So I sit with my coffee and cookbooks looking for something that makes my mouth water.

One of my recent dinners was Fire Roasted Ziti with Sausage. I got the recipe out of one of my favorite cookbook/magazines. It’s the Taste of Home Comfort Food 2009 Edition. This was one of the first cookbooks I ever got. It has some great dishes in it, which I will pick off one-by-one

Ingredients:
1 package of ziti or small tube pasta (8oz)
1 can Italian diced tomatoes, undrained (28oz)
1 jar fire-roasted tomato and garlic spaghetti sauce (26oz)
1 package smoked sausage, sliced (16oz)
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided (8oz)
1 cup 4% cottage cheese (18oz)

Now that I am looking at this, I see it says part-skim cheese – I used regular. I love cheese, but don’t know much about cooking with it. It may be the consistency and the melting potential of skim. Let me know if I am completely wrong. 

Directions:
In large saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions; drain and retun to the pan.
Stir in tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and sausage.
Heat through.
Stir in 1 cup mozzarella and cottage cheese
Top with remaining mozzarella.
Cover and heat over medium heat for 2-5 minutes or until mozzarella is melted.

This was a super simple recipe and it was DELICIOUS! I was a little skeptical of the cottage cheese because I am not a big fan. But once you get it in there and stir it around, you can’t tell it’s there.

This dish has that smoky taste because of the fire-roasted sauce and a bit of spice to it with the sausage and fire-roasted sauce, but it’s not too much. Speaking of the sauce, I had no idea how any different spaghetti sauces there were. I knew there were a few, but goodness, this one is very specific. I was afraid that Walmart wouldn’t have it. Then I was smited for disgracing Walmart’s integrity. And I’m not tomato connoisseur (because I was allergic growing up),  but isn’t a tomato a tomato? What is the difference between Italian and not Italian? Obviously I have a lot of learning to do before P.Diddy asks me to be the chef at his next restaurant, or the family even asks me to bring something more than ice to a gathering!

I am always nervous about cooking, just for the fact that my husband is the food critic in the house. I know I am bound to completely destroy something and I can always whip up a box of mac and cheese and make it through the night. I don’t want him to have to do that, so I always aim to impress with my lack of culinary skills. Plus, he’s the cook in the house. He can make anything and specializes in homemade biscuits and gravy. Mmmmm He can cook the main courses and I will make dessert. I am happy with that!

Let me know if you try this!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to bake at least once a month. Yeah, that didn’t really last. I baked in January, for my cousin’s baby shower, then took a few months off. I have no excuse for the winter months, but for the warmer month’s I can blame that on our faulty air conditioner. If you even thought about turning the oven on, the air would just quit working. Good news, we got a new AC and I’ve been able to get back in the kitchen.

More good news? I have found some awesome cooking apps for my iPhone. That’s where I found the recipe for Berry Pound Cake. It is on the Campbell’s Kitchen app. Love it!

Ingredients:
1 box of pound cake mix
3/4 cup of V8 Splash Berry Blend Juice for the cake
1 1/2 teaspoons of juice for drizzle
2 eggs
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Recipe:
*Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan
*Beat the cake mix, 3/4 cup of V8 juice, and eggs int a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or until batter is thick and smooth. Pour into pan
*Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean
*Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes
*Still the confectioners’ sugar and remaining juice drink in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cake

Voila! That’s it! Now if you look at a picture of what this is supposed to look like, it’s much prettier than how mine turned out, but let me tell you, it was amazing, and it smelled delicious. It’s a nice little summer treat that is yummy with vanilla ice cream.

One of my 2011 Resolutions/Goals was to bake once (at least) a month. I am on par for my goal with one baking session in January.

I know I won’t have an event for every month of the year to cook for, but luckily, I had one in January that made me get a jump start. And it was my cousin’s baby shower.

Her second born, Lane, came to us on January 20. A week before, we held a small get together. Her big boy, Logan, wasn’t as thrilled. He said something along the lines of not wanting to go to his brother’s party. This could get interesting!

It just so happened that earlier in the week, a coworker brought in Oreo Truffle Balls. I had never stumbled upon these heavenly creations before, and actually ate 4 of them that night. I couldn’t stop myself.

I instantly knew those were what I wanted to take to the baby shower. I had no idea what my cousin was craving, but I knew that there was no way she could turn those bad boys down. So, I Google’d “Oreo Truffle Balls” and found a nice quick recipe.

 I’m not going to lie. This wasn’t my easiest baking endeavor. My husband is a master cook and walked me a through a few steps. Like crunching up all the cookies. We don’t have a food processor so we tried a couple of ideas. We started with the blender, yeah, don’t try that. We ended up doing the majority of the crushing with our handy-dandy little Magic Bullet. Let me tell you, this part was messy. We probably had enough Oreo crumbs on the counter and the floor for another ball.

Oreos mixed with cream cheese (notice I didn’t take pics of the crushing mess)

Oreos balled up and ready for the fridge

The next couple of steps were easy, then it got to the chocolate dipping stage. I have never done anything like this before in my life. Yes, I’ve dipped a strawberry or two in a little fondue kit I got for graduation, but I’d never melted chocolate before.

I read the instructions and started to melt, but it didn’t look like it was doing anything, so I kept the chocolate going. BAD IDEA! Follow the directions! Unfortunately, I scorched my regular chocolate. Luckily, I got white chocolate as well. It was supposed to be my drizzle, but ended up being my coating.

In the end, it all worked pretty well. I had about 30 Oreo Balls and they were all snatched up with many asking for the recipe. And little big brother kept asking people if they wanted some. I think he ate two. *Sorry mom!*

Mmm don’t those look fabulous?

Here’s the recipe from Food.com:

Ingredients:
* 1 lb. Oreo Cookies (3 sleeves – one whole package)
* 8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
* 1 lb. milk chocolate
* 1.2 lb. white chocolate
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract if you want extra flavor. Can also use mint (I did not use)

Directions:
1. Using a food processor, grind cookies to fine fine powder.
2. With a mixer, blend cookie powder, cream cheese and vanilla extract (if using) until thoroughly mixed. There should be no white traces of cream cheese.
3. Roll into small balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 45 mins.
4. Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. Melt milk chocolate and dip balls and coat thoroughly. With a slotted spoon (I used a fork), lift balls out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off
5. Melt white chocolate. Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over balls.
6. Let cool then refrigerate.

As you could see from my pics, I used all white chocolate on mine. It wasn’t the intention, but it worked. I actually like white chocolate on them better. I think it brings out the flavor of the cream between the two cookies.

Tip: I like them much better when they are cold. After setting out for a couple of hours, they are still scrumptious, but there is something about when they are just out of the fridge that makes them melt in your mouth.