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Posts Tagged ‘Cooking’

Oreo Truffles

I have had this recipe for several years and realized that I had never posted it on here.  That had to be remedied because it is not everyday that you find an almost fool-proof candy recipe, but this is really close!

The success of a lot of candy making depends on the temperature and humidity of the air around you, not just the cooking method.  This little gem doesn’t seem to mind as much and I think it is because of the way it is made.  There is no cooked sugar or egg whites, just three simple ingredients and a little bit of your time.

1 package Oreo cookies

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

Candy coating

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In a food processor, crush the whole package of Oreos until you have small crumbs like this:

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Mix these crumbs with the softened cream cheese until thoroughly combined.  Roll into 1 inch balls and chill in the fridge or freezer for about 15 minutes to set.

Melt the candy coating according to package directions and dip each truffle to completely coat.  Let these set until the coating hardens then enjoy!  I took a little of the leftover candy coating and drizzled it over the top of the truffles to decorate them a little.

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Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap.  You’ll find me posting over at Bake Sew Write about my honey baked ham recipe made with family-produced honey, and I’m excited to welcome Laura from Food Snob St. Louis to Picture Perfect Cooking:

Hi Picture Perfect Cooking readers!

I’m Laura, and I blog over at Food Snob St. Louis. I’m really excited to be guest posting today and sharing a fun recipe with you that I recently made for a local blogger bake sale.

Figuring out what to make for a bake sale can be daunting. Your item needs to be #1 tasty, #2 look delicious and #3 packaged well. Not only do I feel the pressure of my baked goods tasting really good, but I also want people to see them and want to buy them – let’s just say that pretty food presentation isn’t my strongest skill.

Lucky for you and me, these cookies are very simple to make and look delicious with very little effort!

Cinnamon Roll Cookies (slightly adapted from Heat Oven to 350)

*These cookies need to be refrigerated and frozen. Be sure to allow yourself at least a day or overnight to make them.

For Cookies:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg white

1 tbs. water

For Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 – 2 tbs. milk

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer, cream 1/2 cup of the sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Stir in the flour until a ball of dough is formed. Wrap this dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Remove dough from refrigerator and plastic wrap. Roll it out on a piece of parchment paper into a rectangle (mine was about 9’x13′). In a small bowl whisk together the egg white and water. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg white mixture on top of the dough.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the dough.

4. Starting at one of the longer ends, tightly roll up the dough into a log. Wrap this tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

5. When the dough is ready to cook, heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from freezer and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/2 inch discs and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden along the edges.

6. When cookies are done, transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then make the glaze by stirring together the powdered sugar and milk (you can adjust the thickness of the glaze by adding or using less milk). Drizzle the glaze over the cookies.

I found these cute little confectionery boxes at World Market. I lined them with parchment paper and also put a layer of parchment paper in-between each layer of cookies.

I also made a loaf of my Boozy Banana Bread to take to the bake sale. You can find that recipe over at my website here. Both sold fast! If you like what you saw here, I also encourage you to come check out all of my recipes or my ramblings about being a new mom!

Visit Life Your Way to see all of the Ultimate Blog Swap participants!

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Menu Plan Monday

Here we are again at the beginning of another busy week in Bluegrass Land.  The annual Run for The Roses was this past Saturday and I am sure many people around our great state celebrated accordingly.  I guess we did to.  We stayed home and watched it on television which is our usual method of Derby partying and that suits us just fine. 

The first few days of May have brought warm weather with a few storms thrown in.   We had a pretty strong storm EARLY Saturday morning that Ellie let us know about.  Our electricity was off for a few hours and some of my tender garden plants were flat for a little while, but they stood back up with minimal damage done.  This week looks to be a busy one for both C & I so the dinner menu is a little short this time so please forgive as we have more running to do than usual  the next few days.

Famous pork chops with oven baked fries

Banana pancakes with bacon (The pancakes didn’t get made last week.)

Pizza night

French dip sandwiches with oven baked fries

Egg muffins for breakfast (new)

Tunnel of Fudge Cake with non-dairy blackberry ice cream (both new)

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Now when I think of fudge, my first thoughts always go to chocolate or peanut butter, but I have now been exposed to something totally different.  Back at Christmas, my uncle tried a candy he had never seen before at his company’s employee dinner.  One of his co-workers brought Dreamsicle fudge and he loved it.  He brought me her recipe, but it made not one, but two 13×9 inch pans and that was just too much to experiment with so I found this recipe over at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen on Pinterest that made a much smaller amount and was basically the same recipe scaled down.

I must apologize because I only have photos of the finished product.  The first two times I tried to make it, I burned it.  I mean I REALLY burned it, so the third time I was very careful and didn’t take photos during the process. It is pretty much just basic candy making, but I just didn’t have the attention span that day to make it so I tried again later after wasting 3 sticks of butter and 6 cups of sugar.

3/4 cup butter
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
12 oz. pkg. white chocolate chips
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow crème
3 teaspoons orange extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
5 drops red food coloring

In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. Cook and stir on low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 4 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in white chocolate and marshmallow crème. Remove 1 cup and set aside. Add orange extract and coloring to the remaining mixture. Stir until blended. Pour into an 8 or 9 inch square pan that has been lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick spray. Drop reserved mixture by tablespoons on top and cut through with a knife to swirl.

Let pan cool in refrigerator for several hours until set.

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Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday to everyone!  I hope your week and weekend was as productive as ours was.  I think I mentioned last Monday that C & I built another raised garden bed and raised flower bed while we were off for spring break.  Last Thursday, C’s dad helped us out a bunch by using his handy dandy tractor with a front-end loader to bring us four beautiful scoops of composted dirt to fill these and top off the old beds. 

I got up Saturday morning to weed and top off the strawberry patch with fresh dirt and it looks so good!  There are plenty of green berries already and we made sure to cover them so last week’s cold snap wouldn’t hurt them.  The two garden beds and the flower bed are also ready to plant so hopefully I will start filling those up this week.

C & I are also helping his parents refresh their landscaping a little so we worked on that Saturday afternoon.  Fresh mulch always makes plants look so much better.  We hope to get more accomplished this week and weekend.  Wish us luck!  Since we are doing so much outside, this week’s menu is a little on the simple side again, but I do have a couple of new recipes planned for next weekend.  Have a blessed and wonderful week, everyone!

Grilled pork chops for 2 & oven baked fries

Tacos with fresh fruit

Grilled steaks with butter roasted potatoes

Pizza night

Sliders (new) with oven baked fries

Orange juice cake (not new but I have never posted it on here.)

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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How’s that for a long name for a quick and easy recipe that is so, so, so good?  I found this recipe over at the blog Plain Chicken and I may be addicted now. I made this to go with a pot of chili back during cooler weather and was hooked.  This is a perfect bread to go with chili or soup and would be perfect as a party food, too. 

I don’t ever need to make this when I am home alone or I would eat the whole loaf by myself with very few regrets later.  This is definitely an sharing recipe.  It’s just too good!  I will say that mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty as Plain Chicken’s did but it tasted great just the same.

1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread (I couldn’t find sourdough at my grocery so I used Hawaiian bread and it gave it a great sweet kick.)
8-12 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
3 oz. bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits (I didn’t have bacon bits, so I just cooked about 4 slices of bacon and crumbled it.)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp. Ranch dressing mix

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Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place the shredded cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Baked Ziti

I love pasta!  You would think that I have a strong Italian influence in my family, but that is the furthest thing from reality.  No Italian blood here; just a great love for Italian food!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was pinned from a great blog, Creatively Domestic.  Here is the link to the original recipe.

There were only 2 little changes I made: I had to use penne pasta because my local grocery stores do not stock a pasta called “ziti” and I used a half pound of ground beef and a half pound of Italian sausage instead of just one pound of one of them.  This is a wonderful dish and will be added to my regular meal rotation.

16 oz. dried penne noodles
1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. Italian sausage

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
6 cups meatless spaghetti sauce, divided
1 cup pasta water, reserved from draining ziti
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

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Note about the above photo:  I cooked the ground beef, sausage, onion and garlic powder the day before to save time.  That is what is in the small plastic container.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef, sausage, onion and garlic powder until the meat is completely cooked and the onion is soft.

Slightly undercook ziti, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water, set aside.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In the pot where you cooked the pasta, combine 5 cups of the sauce, reserved pasta water, and the meat mixture.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Add the cooked pasta back in to the pot and stir to combine.

Spoon 1/2 of ziti mixture into 13x9x2" baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle with Mozzarella and 1/2 of Parmesan cheese. Top with remaining ziti mixture and remaining 1 cup spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until heated through.

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All you need now is a salad and some garlic bread.   Mmmm!! This is also great the next day for leftovers. Just re-heat and serve.

Please join me and other great food bloggers at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Sloppy Joe Bake

I love being able to take one recipe and make multiple meals from it.  Last week, I posted about slow cooker sloppy Joes and mentioned the recipe for this week.  It is so quick, easy and good!  I found this on Pinterest and it was pinned from the blog Life as a Lofthouse.  She has her own sloppy Joe recipe which looks really good, too, but since I had the leftovers I used my own.

2 cups sloppy Joe mix

2 cans Pillsbury, Big & Buttery crescent rolls

2 cups shredded cheese

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13×9” baking dish with nonstick spray.  Roll one can of the crescent rolls in the bottom of the baking dish.  Layer the sloppy Joe mix and cheese next, then top with the remaining crescent roll dough.

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Bake for 30-35 minutes.  This needs to bake for at least 30 minutes so the bottom layer of dough can fully cook.  Slice into squares and enjoy!

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Today’s recipe comes from the great blog, Real Mom Kitchen!  Laura always has delicious recipes that are simple and easy on the budget and today’s is no exception.  I love slow cooker recipes and this batch makes enough for multiple nights.  We ate regular sloppy Joes one night and I used the leftovers for sloppy Joe bake which you will see here next week. 

2 lbs. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

15 oz. can tomato sauce

10.75 oz. can condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 cup ketchup

1 1/2 tbsp. worcestshire sauce

1/2 tbsp. dry mustard

1/2 tbsp. prepared mustard

3/4 tsp. chili powder

buns and cheese (I used American and provolone.)

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In a skillet, brown the ground beef and onion together until the beef is cooked through.  Drain off any fat.

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Place the beef/onion mixture in your slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients.  Stir until well combined and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

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Please join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday!

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Some things just go together naturally like peanut butter and jelly or chips and dip.  Well, this recipe goes great with the lasagna soup that I wrote about last week.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs, The Southern Lady Cooks, who happens to be a fellow Kentucky blogger.  She has some wonderful recipes over there and all that I have tried turn out great.

You could easily modify this bread to suit your tastes by adding different cheeses or even some cooked crumbled bacon.  Mmmm!  I may have to try it with bacon.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 cup buttermilk (I used powdered buttermilk and water. The measurement conversion is on the back of the package.)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 eggs

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Prepare a loaf pan by spraying with non-stick spray and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, and powdered buttermilk.

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In another bowl, combine the water (for the powdered buttermilk), butter and eggs.  When that is mixed, add it to the dry ingredients; stir just until combined and make sure there are no dry spots in the batter.

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Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool for about 10 minutes and turn out of the pan. 

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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