A Busy Cooking Day Planned

This year I've lucked out and managed to not have a single plan for Memorial Day, so I believe I'll spend the day in the kitchen. It's been a while since I've had an actual "cooking day". 

On the list for tomorrow... 

• no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies
• A big pot of pinto beans. Half will be put up in the freezer and the other half I'll use for... 
• Refried beans. I'm going to make up a bunch of bean and cheese burritos to put in the freezer for my boyfriend.
• A pot of black beans for the freezer. 
• I'm hoping to try out a new recipe for homemade poptarts. 
• And then I'm seriously thinking about trying to make some homemade samoas! (can you tell I've been craving cookies?)

Hopefully this will all work out the way I'm hoping! Wish me luck and be sure to stop back by to check out the recipes as I post them the next few days!  Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Other Words From Around The Web

I sat down with my google reader tonight, and noticed that there were a lot of great things recently posted. I thought I would post some links here so you can go look for yourself.

It is the first of the month so all the coupons and sales have reset.

-Check out Surviving The Stores for some of the latest deals at Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS.

-Then if you're looking for some good coupons head over to Money Saving Mom

Now on to some yummy food...

-Check out this great looking Beet Hummus at Simply Recipes.

-And as usual, Bakerella whipped up something yummy! Her Red Velvet Cake looks so good!

-Zesty Cook posted a yummy recipe for Homemade Bubbly Beer Bread (say that 5 times fast).

-Last, but not least... this Chocolate Tart is going to be the death of me. The moment I seen it over at Homemade Mothering, I knew I had to make it!

Hope you enjoy!

.

Fondue Party

I've always loved the idea of fondue. Bite-sized food dipped in warm, gooey goodness! So, for my birthday we invited some people over for an adult toy party, and I tried my hand at some homemade fondue!

I made 4 different recipes: White Chocolate-Berry, Dark Chocolate, Tomato, and Guinness Cheese. I was surprised at how easy they all were.

White Chocolate-Berry Fondue 
I wasn't that fond of this fondue. It had a very good flavor,  but was almost too sweet. I believe it might be better to use a fruit spread that's a little more tart!

3/4 c Whipping Cream
1/4 c Amaretto
3/4 c Strawberry Spreadable Fruit*
3 bars (4oz each) White Chocolate Baking Bars, chopped

Place chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside. In a small saucepan, heat cream untill just below a boil. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Stir chocolate/cream mixture until smooth. Add amaretto and fruit spread. Stir to combine. Keep warm. Serve in fondue pot or ceramic bowl.

*You can substitute any flavor fruit spread

Dark Chocolate Fondue
Makes 6 servings
This fondue was excellent! A definite must for all the chocolate lovers out there!!!!

1 c heavy cream
1/2 stick unsalted butter
12 oz milk chocolate chips
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine cream and butter. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; Add all chips and stir until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Transfeer to a fondue pot or ceramic bowl for serving.

Guinness Cheese Fondue

 I personally wasn't a fan of this fondue, but it seemed to be a big hit at the party. Everyone was asking for the recipe before the night was up. I believe that you would have to be a beer fan to enjoy it! It was totally the easiest thing I made though!

4 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans cheddar cheese soup
2 t worstershire sauce
1 (12oz) bottle Guinness
1 t garlic juice
1 t dry mustard

Reserve 2 T cheese for garnish.
In a 4 quart slow cooker, combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. Top with remaining 2 T cheese. Serve with beer.

Tomato Fondue
Serves 6

This is by far the best fondue of the evening! I found this in a cookbook I had (The best casserole cookbook ever: Beatrice Ojakangas). It says it serves 6, but that is for huge servings!

1 large can (28oz) crushed italian style tomatoes with their juice*
1 t dried oregano
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3 c shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the tomatoes with their juice in a 1 quart casserole dish. Mix in the oregano, salt, and pepper. Bake for 1 hour, or until the tomatoes are bubbly hot. Add the cheese gradually, stirring to combine after each addition. Keep warm until ready to serve.
*I used canned, fire-roasted tomatoes.

We had a million things to dip in them as well. We had donut holes, brownies, celery, apples, pretzels, bread cubes, green and red peppers, pound cake, and I'm sure some others that I just can't remember at the moment! 

Recipe catch up!

I have been a little behind on my blogging. I have cooked a lot of things recently that I haven't blogged about. So I'm going to try and write a few posts with all the recipes in them. Out of everything I've cooked lately only one thing didn't turn out as I planned, and that's the Cinnamon Bubble Bread I baked. I got the recipe out of a cookbook called The Best Casserole Book Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas. I honestly think that this bread would turn out perfect had I given it the chance, but sadly it was the last thing I baked that day. So I was exhausted and ready to get out of the kitchen. Here is the recipe. I urge you to try it and let me know your results! 

Cinnamon Bubble Bread

The “bubbles” in this loaf of bread are little rounds of dough, which are rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and then piled into a baking pan. The bread tastes a lot like cinnamon rolls, and is fun to serve for breakfast or brunch, or with coffee. Use two forks or a pair of tongs to pull apart the bubbles.

Serves 8 to 10

6 T butter, melted, divided, plus extra for the dish

1 C warm water (105 to 115°)

2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast

2 T plus 1 C sugar, divided

1 C milk, scalded and cooled, to lukewarm

2 t salt

4 ½ C all purpose flour, divided

2 T ground cinnamon

1. Generously butter a deep 2-quart casserole dish. Pour the warm water into a large bowl and stir in the yeast and the 2 T of sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the milk, salt, 4 T of the melted butter, 1 C of the flour, and ½ c sugar; beat until smooth. Gradually beat in the remaining flour to make a stiff, satiny, smooth dough.

3. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubles in size, about 45 minutes. Turn out the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface. Divide the dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into quarters again, to make 16 pieces. Cut each of the pieces in half to make 32 pieces total.

4. Pour the remaining 2 T melted butter into a small dish. In another small dish mix the remaining ½ c of sugar and the cinnamon. Roll each piece of dough first in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar. Place the dough pieces in the buttered casserole in even layers. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, or until browned and a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the casserole for 5 minutes. Invert onto a serving dish and serve warm, pulling apart the pieces.

Late Night Chocolate Cravings

Last night I decided to download Google Chrome. Needless to say, it was love at first click!

But in the midst of my Chrome craze, I had that late night urge..... for chocolate! Now, if any of you have had this craving, then you know what I'm talking about. Nothing else will suffice. There is no subsitute for chocolate! Well, at least not in my book.

So, away I went, searching for the perfect peace of chocolate heaven. Only to find that I had nothing. Let me tell ya, it was a very sad night in my house.

Then out of the blue my fiance says, "How about those no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies you talked about making the other day?"

Ladies and gentlemen, my fiance is a genius!

This man has single-handedly restored my faith in the human race! No bake chocolate oatmeal cookies are super simple, and always cure that pesky late-night, chocolate craving!

So away I went to make some cookies!

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 c sugar

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1/2 c Evaporated milk (or plain milk if your out)

2 1/2 T cocoa

1/2 c peanut butter

2 t vanilla

3 c quick cook oats

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.

(I was out of milk and refused to go to the store, luckily I had some dry milk!)

Spoon out quickly onto wax paper or aluminum foil. Cookies will harden as they set.