Fwd: Test 1..2..3...4

Trying something new... Emailing photos to the blog using my phone.

Also, thinking of maybe spinning this blog around a little... Yes, it will continue to be about food- but also.. Things that make me smile and happy.

I think everyone could use a little mire happiness, don't ya think?!

Hope you all have a happy thanksgiving!! Gobble gobble!!

~ pup

Hello...Been a while...

Hello Everyone.. I know its been years (ok, maybe not years) since I have posted.. but had some busy things going on and then my life kinda got flipped upside down... I am alive.. I will return.. But this girl is going to be taking a break for a little bit... hopefully soon when things pick up I will be back and posting (what I think are) delicious meals... until then.. I hope you all are Happy and Loving Life!!

* Short and Sweet

Things have been busy busy busy around here.. I was hoping to share a few more posts with you all before announcing the winner to the giveaway.. but sometimes we don't always get what we want... right.. gotta love the stones!

Anyhoo..I want to say Congratulations to Betsy of My Five Men, you are the owner of a new Lattice Pocket Pie mold!!!

Hopefully things slow down a bit for me and I will share with you some beef stew, yummy home made biscuits, and my grams.. (well, I am really not sure what to call them since she accidentally made them..) date candies!!

Hope you all are happy and loving life!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Heavenly Rice

When people talk about their "immediate family" typically they are talking about their mom, dad, and siblings.  For me, that is not the case.  My immediate family is my mom, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncle and cousins... Growing up I spent a lot of time with all of them.  Holiday's big and small, sporting events (track and field), and cookouts on lazy weekends.  My cousins and I spent a lot of time at our grandma's, running around her yard and in the forest by her house.  Many of my favorite dishes came from gram's house... Pig Picken Cake, Chicken and Waffles... Heavenly rice!!

Gram's Heavenly Rice
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Ingredients:
4 cups cooked rice
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple
3 small gala apples (diced)
1 bag of chopped walnuts
1 jar of maraschino cherries (quartered)
3/4 bag of mini marshmallows
2 cups of Chantilly cream (gram would used a container of cool whip)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a big bowl, allow to chill before serving. Yep, that's it!

Now.. It may not look like much, but it is a tasty treat that my grandma use to make that I would devour!!





Also, if you haven't already.. Check out my Blogavarsary Giveaway Post and enter to win a cute Lattice Pocket Pie Mold - Winner will be announced on the 23rd!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Momma's Italian Wedding Soup and a Giveaway!!

Do you remember me telling you my mom is a soup(er) woman and how I am....not?  Well, I have successfully made soup from scratch!! All thanks to momma!  I made her Italian Wedding soup and it was delicious!! It tasted as if she had made it!!

Momma's Italian Wedding Soup
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Ingredients:
For chicken stock:
1 Whole Chicken
2 Small onions
3 or 4 stalks of celery (cut into 2-3 inch pieces)
1 carrot (cut into 2-3 inch pieces)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp (or so) of crushed red pepper flakes

Ingredients for soup:
4 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of shredded chicken
20 mini meatballs
Acini de Pepe pasta (about 1/2 a box) - cooked al dente
Shredded carrots (about 1/8 cup or so)
Spinach (I omit this)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a stock pot and cover with water and place on stove.

Bring to a boil and then lower heat and allow to simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours. Allow broth to cool some, remove chicken. Pick chicken off of bone. Place chicken in a container and put in the refrigerator. Taste the stock if it needs more seasoning add more. Put chicken bone back in stock pot with broth and veggies. Repeat - bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Allow broth to cool, remove chicken bone and veggies. Strain broth. Place broth in fridge and allow to cool, allow the fat to set so you can skim it off the top of the broth.

When I made this I used a medium sized chicken and got about 9 cups of stock. I froze 5 cups and used the rest for soup.

Once the stock is ready, add all the remaining ingredients and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Finally, Enjoy!!

Seriously, this is my all time favorite soup!!  It is a comfort food and yes, it may be a bit of a process to make it, but it is SO worth it!!  Plus, now I have 5 cups of frozen fresh chicken stock in my freezer!!

As I mentioned in a previous post February is my "blogaversary" so, as a thank you to those that read and enjoy my blog I am doing a giveaway!!  Not too long ago I purchased Lattice Pocket Pie Molds from Williams Sonoma (looks like they are sold out now-more incentive to win it!), I had purchased two thinking it would make pie-making easier.. well, one was enough!!  So, I have decided to give the other one away!! They are fun and cute and make beautiful little pie's (see blog post here) like these:

So... Post a comment telling me about your favorite pie and then on the 23rd I will randomly select a winner! (p.s.  Please remember to leave some sort of way for me to contact you - If you post anonymously be sure to email me with your comment so I can contact you if you win!)

Happy Eating!!
~

* Valentine's Day is coming... share the best Sugar Cookies Ever!!

What are you baking for Valentine's Day?  My fellow is a cookie monster so I decided to make some sugar cookies, I cut them out in the shape of hearts for Valentines day and decorated them!  This recipe is from my mom's friend Connie. She bakes cookies each year for the holidays, and just happened to give me this recipe.. I am still waiting for her blue berry walnut thumbprint cookies!  Her cookies are delicious! And this recipe is amazing! They are moist and buttery and delicious!!

Connie's Sugar Cookies
makes 2-3 dozen (depending on the size of the cookie cutter)
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Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 c. flour
2 Tbsp. Orange Juice
1 Tbsp. Butter Vanilla Extract (regular vanilla extract is fine also) (I used half Vanilla and half butter extract)
1 tsp. Baking Powder

Directions:

preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Add the flour, 

orange juice, vanilla extract and baking powder. Mix. roll out dough and cut into 

shapes you like. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Once cookies are baked allow to fully cool before decorating!

Decorating cookies is new to me, and if it is new to you I suggest you

check out Annie's Eats - How to Decorate with Royal Icing tutorial!

She made it super easy and her recipe for icing was tasty!!

Outline your cookies and then once the icing has set fill them in!

Have fun and be creative!

I added chunks of broken mint chocolate chips to make "mint chocolate chip ice cream" cones!

And I added some extra red sanding sugar to the hearts!

Some pretty pink posies

This cookie recipe is delicious! The icing is easy peasy  - thanks to the tutorial!

I enjoyed making and decorating these cookies, and I especially enjoyed eating them!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Pepperoni Bites

I made Pizza Dough for the first time recently, and being that it made enough dough for 2 16" pizza's, I thought that instead of making 2 pizza's I would make some pepperoni bites with the remaining dough!! Good idea right? Right!

Pepperoni Bites
(adapted from gram's pepperoni bread)
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Ingredients:

pizza dough
diced pepperoni
shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Roll out pizza dough, using a big cookie cutter, cut out round shapes, add cheese and pepperoni in the center of dough, fold sides around and seal edges.  Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Again, Check out Sing for your supper and show your support!! Also, check out this post on Marx Foods Blog and vote for A Happy Girl and Loving Life's Berry Lightning!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Black Bean Soup

My mom can make soup.  She is a soup person.  She takes ham hocks, or whole chickens, or a bag of mixed beans and creates delicious soups.  What? You have some onions, cream, and bacon that needs used up... Bam.. she has made you a soup... I am not exaggerating.  And the soups, they taste amazing!!  I have friends that rave about her Italian Wedding Soup (this is my ALL time favorite!!), and some of her friends think that she should open up her own soup and sandwich shop (she would do great!!)..

I on the other hand, can't make soup.  At all.  I have successfully opened a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup and heated that up in the microwave!! That is as far as my soup making culinary skills go... sad isn't it?!?!

I like black bean soup.  I have been wanting to try making it for a while, and it just so happens that I have Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen Cookbook, and in it is a recipe for black bean soup that I thought I would try making! 

It looks OK, I guess.  Not like soups I have ordered at Restaurants.... It tasted horrible! I am not posting the recipe, I do not doubt Rick's recipe, but I did something wrong.  I didn't have chorizo sausage so I used spicy Italian... and after it was done, and I tasted and didn't care for it - I added a little bit of chicken stock to think it out some... chipolte pepper in adobe and a little bit of cream.. nothing worked.  It just didn't taste good (even after the addition of the cheese and sour cream)!!

Oh well.. just gotta try, try, try again!!  If you have any tried and true recipes for black bean soup, please share them!

On another note.. Please check out Sing for your supper and read this post!! Each click she gets is money towards the local Animal Rescue!! Also, check out this post on Marx Foods Blog and vote for A Happy Girl and Loving Life's Berry Lightning!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Nuts for Nuts? Nuts for Coconuts!!

How many of you have took a trip up to the city? When I say city I am talking about that big apple, the mighty Manhattan, good ol' New York City! I am not sure if this is a good thing, or a sad thing.. But one of my favorite things about trips to the city, is walking along the streets in search of a Nuts for Nuts street car that sells candied coconut! I love candied coconut. The texture, the sweetness, everything about it is delicious!!

I had difficulty finding a recipe for the coconut, but thanks to some ladies.. I was shown the light.. A recipe for a "copycat" Nuts for Nuts. Yep!! It was time for me to buy a coconut!! Have you ever bought a coconut? Or opened one for that matter? I haven't. This was a whole new world for me! Draining the coconut water, cracking open the shell, and then prying chunks of coconut from there hard shell... Well, Lets just say that while I was in the process of removing the coconut meat from the shell I told the fellow that if I ever again get the idea of "hey, lets get a coconut", for him to remind me... remind me of that moment. Right then. Why? because that was the biggest pain in my butt!! I didn't think that getting the meat out of the coconut was worth it. It was too much work. Maybe I was doing it the wrong way.. who knows.

Either way, I eventually got the coconut meat out of the shell (technically, I got a little bit out and then gave up). And that coconut meat became the yummy treat that I am sharing with you today!!

Candied Coconut
(from Top Secret Recipes Version of Nuts 4 Nuts)
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Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. water
1/4 C. sugar
1 C. Fresh coconut Meat

Directions:

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the coconut and stir often until water evaporates.
Continue stirring until the sugar begins to harden on the nuts.
Grease foil with a little bit of oil, and dump coconut onto foil, with a fork separate the coconut, place under the broiler until it starts to lightly brown, be sure to take it out and give it a stir.
Enjoy!!

Well, you know how I said that I didn't think it was worth it, picking the meat out.. well, after tasting one of these coconut bites, well.. Now, I can't exactly say that anymore.. it was SO worth it!! These turned out perfectly!!  I swear, if I would have closed my eyes I would have heard taxi horns honking, and felt the breeze of busy people rushing past me!!  They were that good, no, I take that back.. they were better!  They were FRESH!!! 



Also, check out this post on Marx Foods Blog and vote for A Happy Girl and Loving Life's Berry Lightning!!
Happy Eating!!
~

* Have you ever heard of a Szechuan Button?

I had never heard of a Szechuan Button until Marx Foods contacted me! Marx Foods was running a challenge using the buttons - they were looking for bloggers to use the buttons to come up with unique cocktails. You can see the challenge here.  I thought it was a neat idea, and since I have never used (let alone heard of) the buttons before it would be an interesting (and educational) challenge to try!!

Marx food sent me a sample of the buttons and I had to come up with an original cocktail using these buttons.  The first thing I had to do, was try one!!  Some people claimed that the they sensed a "pop rock" like sensation, while others compare it to licking a 9-volt battery.  I didn't get the pop rock feeling, but I do agree with the 9-volt battery tingly sensation.  It wasn't painful, just unusual.

I new right off the bat that I didn't want to incorporate anything hot or spicy to the mix, no cinnamon liquors or anything of that nature.  One thing that I thought would work with these buttons was mint.  A cooling sensation would be a nice contrast to the warm tingly feeling you get from the buttons.  Mint Juleps popped into my head.. but I nixed that idea because it said to come up with an "original" cocktail.. and well, that's not original.  Another idea I had was berries with it.  A nice sweetness to accompany the tingly feeling.

I had some blueberries in my fridge and started playing around... And, well, this is what I have to show for it..

Berry Lightning
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1 Cup fresh blueberries (plus additional for garnish)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
2 oz. tonic
2 oz rum
6 Szechuan Buttons (4 for in the drink, 2 for garnish)

Mix all ingredients (except 2 buttons for garnish) in a blender. Strain liquid and pour into 2 glasses. Place 3 blueberries on the stem of each button and attach to the side of the glasses.

Now, the Blue lightning does not give a strong sensation.. if you are feeling a little adventurous, Add all the ingredients (like above) into your blender along with ice, and blend. Pour the liquid into glasses and garnish with the button and blueberries. I call this modified drink Berrytricity.

Enjoy!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Chicken Fried Rice

This past week the fellow and I purchased a rice cooker, according to him it is the best way to cook rice... Apparently the fellow is excellent at cooking Chicken Fried Rice (his college roommate taught him a Japanese recipe for the rice dish). So, I figured..since we got the rice cooker.. it was time for him to make us some fried rice!!


Chicken Fried Rice
(The fellow's recipe)
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Ingredients:
1 Boneless Skinless Chicken breast (cut into strips/pieces)
1 package of frozen vegetables (we used the mixed veggies-corn, beans, carrots)
4 cups cooked rice
vegetable oil
1 egg
soy sauce
pepper

Directions:

Steam your veggies

While they are steaming, toss your chicken strips in a little bit of oil and cook 

Once it is cooked through-coat chicken lightly with a little bit of soy sauce. Put chicken on a plate, and set to the side. In the same pan add a little bit of vegetable oil, all of the rice, and a little more soy sauce (enough to lightly coat the rice), mix together and allow to fry up. 

Whisk your egg in a bowl, clear a space in the middle of the rice and pour the egg onto the pan. 

Allow it to cook up and become firm, then mix it in with all the rice. Finally add your chicken and 

veggies to the pan and stir.

The fellow did a good job, it was tasty and very easy to make!! 

Happy Eating!!
~

* Chicken Francese and birthday's

2 years ago the fellow and I celebrated his birthday. During this time period we had been dating less than a year, and more often than not went out for dinner or ordered pizza.. we didn't do a lot of cooking together yet. Me, wanting to show him my domestic abilities (and wanting to do something nice for his birthday), decided to cook him one of his favorite meals. When we went to Italian restaurants he often ordered Chicken Francese, at the time.. I had never had it before.. I don't think I ever tried a bite of his while dinning out either.

I had never made it before, or tasted it to make sure it tasted the way it was supposed to...ya, it was interesting. It turned out.. ok... he ate it anyways lol. This year I decided to take on the task again.. I searched and searched cookbooks and websites and finally found a recipe that I thought might work.. I like Tyler's Ultimate TV show, so I thought I would try his version. I read the reviews and found a comment left by someone stating their recipe..

Chicken Francese
(adapted from Tyler Florence)
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Ingredients

1 skinless, boneless, chicken breast
All-purpose flour, for dredging, + some to make a roux
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 c lemon juice
1 Tbsp. melted butter for roux
1/2 C. cream
Cooked pasta

Directions

In between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, pound out your chicken (or you can use the thin skinless boneless breast and not pound them out). Season chicken with salt and pepper, coat the chicken in flour, and then dip them in your egg wash.

Cook the chicken in a skillet with olive oil. When all of the chicken is cooked set them aside (I turned our oven on to "warm" and kept them in there while I continued with the remaining steps).

In the same pan, add the lemon juice and chicken stock. Allow this to reduce by about half. Mix the melted butter and additional flower together and add to pan. Stir until combined. Add cream and stir until combined. Add salt and pepper per your tastes.

Plate chicken and pasta, pour sauce over top and enjoy!

 

  

The end results... Better than the first time I made it for him, but still not perfect! The sauce almost looked like a gravy because it had a brown tint from using the same pan that the chicken was originally in, next time we will make the sauce in its own pan. The flavor was good, the fellow said it tasted pretty close to what he orders at restaurants, so that is a plus!!

Do you make chicken francese? If so, I would love if you would share your recipe/method...I figure the next time I make it (in 2 more years...lol) will be the charm...(3rd time and all that...we'll see!! )

Also, Speaking of Birthdays.. February 23rd will be my 1st "blogaversary"!! Isn't that exciting?!?! It is a wonderful thing and a sad thing all in once. February is a rough month now. My grandfather passed away a year ago on the 15th, he is the reason I started this blog... he is the reason I sign "pup" to everything I write and share with you. Being that it has been a year, I wanted to say thank you! To all of you who follow, read, share, comment.. to everyone! I appreciate the feedback, the responses, everything!! And, I figure.. why not have a giveaway!! Just to say thanks! This is just a heads up.. The actual giveaway will start about a week before the 23rd!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Pizza dough

 First time making Pizza dough....SUCCESS!!  Thank you Julia Child!

The fellow and I are big pizza eaters, whether it be from a small pizzeria in our town or a store bought crust and us adding our own ingredients.. I swear, that boy can eat pizza any time of the day!! I have been wanting to try making my own crust (rather than buying from the store) to make pizza's at home.. and it took me until now to try to make it. My momma bought me Julia's Kitchen Wisdom cookbook for Christmas, and after browsing through it I decided to make her pizza dough recipe!! It's about time I made pizza dough from scratch!!

I read through the directions, and it was easy to make.. though I did mess up reading the instructions and made it a little incorrectly kind of (well, not so "kind of" - I did add the wrong amount of water in, and later had to add more flour. But the dough still turned out tasty!! See, that is how easy it is, even when you mess up you can fix this recipe and still have it turn out tasty!!)

Pizza Dough
(from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom Cookbook)
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Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast (a scant Tbsp)
1/3 C. Tepid Water(not over 110 degrees F)
Pinch of sugar
1 C. cold water (plus more if needed)
3 1/2 C. all purpose (or bread) flour (plus more if needed)
1 Tbsp. rye or whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Proof your yeast! Pour yeast and the pinch of sugar into the 1/3 cup of warm water. Wait 5 minutes, if it is bubbly then it is active and ready to go!! Add the cold water. In a mixing bowl add the flour and salt-start mixing. Slowly add the yeast and water to the flour mixture (if the dough is not the right consistency you can add small amounts of cold water-a little bit at a time). The dough should be soft and pliable, if it is damp and wet add more flour. Let the dough rest. Knead the dough by hand (or your stand mixer-on slow) a hood 50 times.

There are two rises to this dough. For this first rise put the dough in an ungreased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel, and place in a warm area (75 degrees F), for about an hour (it may need more time than that)-It should rise to almost double.

When I made the pizza pie's I stopped here. After the dough had risen, I split the dough in half, oiled them, and then wrapped them in plastic wrap and placed them in the freezer. When I was ready to make pizza I just placed one dough ball in the fridge and let it thaw over night, 30 minutes or so before I was ready to use it I took it out of the fridge and opened the plastic and let it sit and come to room temp. Between taking it out of the freezer and letting it sitting at room temp it had puffed up some.

I rolled the dough out....

Added some olive oil mixed with minced garlic, some ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese, threw it in the oven and voila... yummy white pizza!!

Keep in mind, if you do not plan to freeze it like I did you can take your risen dough place it on a floured work space, form it into a rectangle, fold it over it self (think of a business letter tri fold), do this a couple times and then place it back in the bowl (the dough should almost triple in size), once it has risen it is ready to bake!

The fellow and I were both pleased with the taste and texture of the crust!! It turned into a tasty pizza!!

Happy Eating!!
~

* Brown Butter and Cinnamon Frosting

A while back I made some tasty cupcakes...just cupcakes... the frosting I made was horrible! I tried some recipe from Martha Stewart and it just didn't turn out.. since then I have searched and searched for a frosting recipe to pair with the cupcakes... Thanks to My Kitchen Addiction, I have found a recipe!!

Cinnamon Brown Butter Frosting
(from My Kitchen Addiction)
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(Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes)
4 ounces (1/2 cup) brown butter
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/8 cup + 1/2 tablespoon of milk

In a stand mixer pour the brown butter into the mixing bowl. Add your cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Beat with the paddle attachment until fully mixed together, it will be a bit crumbly!  Next add a little bit of the milk and mix.  Keep adding little portions of milk until you get the desired consistency you want!!

So far, frosting has not been my forte'... The first time I made frosting for cupcakes it was TOO thin, I added  too much milk.. this time, once I reached a creamy thickness I stopped.. I didn't want to risk making it too think like my first attempt.. though, looking at them now, I definitely could have added a little more milk!!

It did have a good flavor, and paired with the Cinnamon and brown sugar Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Cupcakes were a real treat!!

Happy Eating!!
~