Martha Stewart's Glitter Ball Cookies

I'm a little premature with my January Martha Stewart Cookie Calendar cookie.  It's not quite January, but these cookies just screamed New Year's Eve to me.  The glittery look that the sanding sugar gives them makes me thinks of the big ball drop in Times Square.  I am not a huge fan of the fresh ginger, but I still like the cookies; my dad loves them, he's eaten three so far.  Fresh ginger is a matter of personal preference in the flavor department.  I might try them with ground ginger next time, just to see what difference there is.

Ingredients

- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

- 1/2 cup powdered sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

- sanding sugar, in assorted colors

- Creamy Ginger Filling

     - 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

     - 2 teaspoons finely grated, peeled fresh ginger

     - 1 cup powdered sugar

     - 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Beat butter, powdered sugar, and salt with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Beat in vanilla.  Add flour and mix until just combined.
3. Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls.  Roll each ball in sanding sugar and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake until edges are slightly golden brown or bottoms brown, about 15-18 minutes.  Rotate pans halfway through baking time.  Remove cookies from pan and let cook completely.
5. Prepare Creamy Ginger Filling by mixing all ingredients together either by hand or with an electric mixer.
6. When cookies have cooled, spread each with just enough filling to stick two cookies together.  Sandwich cookies together.

I hope you everyone has a safe and happy New Year! I'll probably be dropping some of these cookies into my belly while watching the ball drop tonight!

Mini Egg Bake/Quiche-Like Things

Okay...but really, I think I'll call these mini egg bakes.  Because, although they are quiche-like, they are missing the quiche crust AND I've found that there are many people who think they hate quiche and will therefore not try anything that even has the word quiche in it (my dad).  So, they are mini egg bakes in order to trick more people into trying them.  But really, they're super yummy!  And the combinations are literally endless with these little guys.  I made two different variations and I've got the recipe for each of these below.  One of the great things is that you can throw just about anything into these.  If you come up with some good combinations, be sure and post them in the comments!

Ingredients
Breakfast Burrito Mini Egg Bakes  (Yield: 12)

- 5 eggs

- 3 egg whites or 1 cup liquid egg whites
- 1 cup milk

- 1 cup ground breakfast sausage, cooked (I used Jimmy Deans precooked for extra ease)
- 1/4 cup scallions
- 1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese
- 4 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce
   Side Note:  I used Taco Bell packaged hot sauces, which I realize is kind of funny and probably completely anti-culinary, but I have two good reasons: 1) The little sayings on the packages make me chuckle and 2) When we make actual breakfast burritos at home, I always put Taco Bell hot sauce on them.

Ham and Broccoli Mini Egg Bakes  (Yield: 12)
- 5 eggs
- 3 egg whites or 1 cup liquid egg whites
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup chopped up canadian bacon
- 1/2 cup colby jack cheese
- 1 cup broccoli
- dash of pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line regular sized muffin tin with foil cupcake liners.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, and milk.
3. Add all other ingredients listed to egg mixture and stir.
   
4. Evenly divide the mixture between the 12 liners.  (I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup for this and it measured out perfectly).
5. Bake in preheated oven until tops just start to brown, 30-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

New Year's Resolution involve counting calories? They're about 90 calories each, which obviously varies with what you put in them.

The great thing about these is that you can keep them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or keep them frozen for a month.  Just microwave them for 30-60 seconds.

This is literally exactly what I ate for breakfast yesterday, times two.  Two of these egg bakes and little fruit are just enough breakfast for this girl!

My Very Merry Christmas

I've been a horrible blogger lately.  I've baked and cooked plenty, but have documented nothing and shared nothing.  It has been a busy past month, filled with school and work, but more importantly family, friends, and holiday festivities.  I had a wonderfully perfect Christmas.  It is perhaps going down in the books as favorite; although, there was the year I got the Barbie Dream House and cried when my uncle gave me a black backpack instead of a purple one.

I promise to try and be a better blogger in 2012; it would be my New Year's resolution if I believed in those.  My brother got me the Martha Stewart Cookie Calendar for Christmas, so my plan is to make each month's cookie and post it for you. (Plus, I got the Elephant Cookie Jar from Pier 1, circa blog post #1, so I can put all of my cookies in it!) I'm also going to try and do a Dinner Tonight/Dinner Tomorrow Night post every month. If I can do this, plus an extra random recipe and at least one feminist rambling every month, my blog will feel much more alive.  I'm planning on making some mini egg bake/quiche-like things tonight, so stay tuned for those. Hopefully I come up with a better name for them before posting!

Here are some pictures from my Christmas season.  I hope yours was just as merry as mine!

My New Toy

I bought a Keurig coffee maker online on Black Friday. It arrived in the mail and I immediately tried it out. I'm really enjoying it so far. I've bought several coffee varieties and am excited to try them all out.  But, this is not really why I'm writing.  It's related though.  Kind of.

You see, while I was strolling the aisles at my neighborhood Target in October, I found something.  I've been trying to slowly accumulate the things that I will want to have when I move in the Spring, which has really just become an excuse to buy anything in the home section of Target that catches me eye, especially if it's on clearance.  And so, I found an elephant coffee mug. There was really 0% chance it was not making it home with me, but I literally circled the store three times debating whether or not I should buy it. So, I brought it home and stuck it in a box downstairs that is full of things for when I move.

Then, as I was playing around with my new Keurig machine, I noticed that it's kind of finicky about what size mugs you can use.  I wanted a good, 10 oz mug to use, but most of those were too tall for the machine if you kept the drip tray on.  And then, I remembered that fabulous elephant mug.  I brought it up from downstairs and....it fit! Perfectly! It was a very exciting moment.  And now I have a completely valid reason to buy more elephant mugs from Target :)

Pretzel Hugs and Turtle Pretzels

I was thinking about something the other day (I try to do this on a semi-regular basis). How is it that certain holiday goodies become exclusive to the holiday season?  Whether it be your favorite holiday cookie, peanut brittle, or fudge, there seem to be certain confections that people only make for the holidays.  I thought of this as I was making these wonderfully delicious chocolate and pretzel bite-sized treats right after Thanksgiving.  I was making them and thinking to myself, "This isn't right. I shouldn't be doing holiday baking when November isn't even over."  But really, this is silly.  There is nothing about chocolate and pretzels that screams holidays.  Nothing. But, I still intentionally staged them to look like Fall/Thanksgiving in the pictures to make me feel better about it.

These are so easy, yet so tasty. You're going to read the instructions and say, "Why does this justify a recipe post on your blog?" Because you need to make them. And share them with the people you love.

Pretzel Hugs

Ingredients

1 bag of Hershey's hugs

1 bag of Pretzel "Snaps" (you will not use the whole bag)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Place some parchment paper or wax paper on a cookie sheet.
2. Unwrap all of your hugs and put them in a bowl. Count them if you're slightly OCD like me.
3. Place one pretzel on your cookie sheet for each hug. Place a hug on each pretzel.

Side Note: If I were Martha Stewart crafty, I probably would have used those wrappers in the background to make some kind of holiday craft. But, I'm not. So I threw them away. Feel free to to turn yours into wreaths and ornaments.

5.  Place the cookie tray in the oven and let chocolates soften for 2 minutes.  Do not leave in any longer. The goal is not to melt the hugs, just to soften them.

6.  Remove cookie sheet from oven and let stand for another minute.  Then, sandwich another pretzel on top of the ooey gooey hug.

7.  Let set until chocolate hardens again. If you're impatient like me, stick the tray in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Turtle Pretzels

Ingredients

1 bag Rolos

Your choice of pretzels (Snaps and Twists will work best)

Your choice of Almonds or Pecan Halves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Unwrap your Rolos and place them in a bowl. Again, feel free to count them.

3. Place one pretzel on the cookie sheet for each Rolo.  Place a Rolo on each pretzel (I would recommend putting the bigger end of the Rolo on the pretzel).

4. Put your cookie sheet in the oven for 4 minutes to soften (not melt) chocolate. Remove and let sit for another minute.

5. Press an almond or pecan halve into each Rolo.

6. Let set until chocolate hardens again. Refrigerate for 30 minutes if you just can't wait.

Even though I staged these for Fall and insist that there is nothing about chocolate pretzels that should be holiday-exclusive, I intend to make these again and give them for Christmas.

I've Never Burned a Bra

I was playing a game of Apples-to-Apples recently when I was reminded of something.  If you're familiar with the game, you know that one player (the judge) places down a card with an adjective on it, and the other players all pick a noun card that they feel pairs with that adjective.  Then, the judge picks which noun card they feel best fits the adjective and whomever placed that card is the winner of that round.  I was the judge and the adjective was a negative one, either annoying or useless, I can't remember. Everyone placed their cards and as I read them, I came across the word feminist.  Initially, I assumed that my boyfriend had played the card just to get a rise out of me.  However, as it was, another woman who was playing had placed the card.  The men playing laughed and thought that the card was hilarious, but one thought out loud, "You're a woman, why would you play that car?  Especially when another woman is judging."

I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but later thought about how I sometimes forget that not all women classify themselves as feminists.  I myself never used to feel comfortable classifying myself as a feminist.  After all, I wasn't a bra burning, man hater.  I didn't protest shaving my legs because it was a socially constructed norm.  I still thought Barbie dolls were awesome, the mall was a sanctuary, and I wanted to find myself the perfect man to marry and have a nice, nuclear family with.  You see the problem with the feminist movement is that it has a very hard time shaking the stereotypes that are associated with it.  All of those things are still true about me, but I'm still a feminist.

What people don't realize is that feminism is not so extreme.  The core values of a feminist are to advance the status of women in society, whether that be economically, politically, or socially.  Feminism is about equal rights and status between the genders. Feminists not only advocate for the rights of women, but also men. And, men can even be feminists.

So, if you agree with even one of these statements, you hold a feminist belief:

Women should receive equal pay for equal work.

Sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape and domestic violence are unacceptable, no matter who the victim.

Women should have the right to vote.

Women should be equally represented in politics.

Human trafficking is a social injustice.

Women should be given reproductive freedom.

Boys and girls should be given equal educational opportunities.

Even if you disagree with one of these statements, you still hold feminists beliefs and therefore, may in fact be a feminist.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

This was the second cupcake I made for my cupcake bake off at work.  It was the overall winner!  Martha Stewart has a Snickerdoodle Cupcake that I've seen a lot of people use, but I opted not to use her recipe because it uses the creaming butter and sugar method, which I rarely have good luck with.  Instead, I decided to use my favorite base vanilla cupcake and modify it.  The cake is wonderfully moist and the frosting looks like a little pillow with glittery cinnamon sugar on top.

Ingredients

Cake

1 3/4 cups cake flour 

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk

Frosting 

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons whipping cream 

cinnamon sugar for garnish 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Fill cupcake pan with liners. I made one pan of mini cupcakes and one pan of regular sized ones.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

3. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.  Because there is so little butter, you'll end up with a very fine crumb texture.

4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.

6. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined.  The batter will be liquid.

7. Fill cupcake liners. I use a tablespoon for mini cupcakes and 1/4 cup for regular sized cupcakes.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes for mini cupcakes and 14-16 minutes for regular cupcakes.  Let cool 10 minutes, than remove from tins and let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl with a hand mixer.

2. Add whipping cream one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

3.  When cupcakes have cooled completely (at least 1 hour), frost. Sprinkle tops of cupcakes with cinnamon sugar.

Pineapple Upside Down Inspired Cupcakes

I was challenged to a cupcake bake-off at work recently.  Another coworker and myself enjoy cooking and baking and occasionally bring in treats for everyone to enjoy.  Someone at work suggested that we go head-to-head with our baking skills, leading to this baking challenge.  We are each to bake two different flavors of mini cupcakes and bring them to work.  This is one of my flavors.  It was the favorite at home, but not the winner at work.

I have always enjoyed a good pineapple upside down cake.  Believe it or not, I'm not a big frosting fan, so it used to be my birthday cake of choice.  These cupcakes are not exactly like a pineapple upside down cake, but they definitely take their inspiration from them. I made a brown sugar frosting, but found the flavor was a littler overpowering for the cakes, so I mixed it half-and-half with a butter cream frosting.

Ingredients

Cupcake

2 cups cake flour

1 + 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon bking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temperature (I put mine in a small bowl with warm water)
1 (10 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (16 oz) jar maraschino cherries, drained and dried (halved if making mini cupcakes)


Brown Sugar Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/8 cup milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Butter Cream Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners. I made one pan of mini cupcakes and one pan of regular sized ones.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. Add softened butter, butter milk and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.

4. Add eggs, beat for 2 more minutes.

5. Fold in drained pineapple.

6. Pour batter into cupcake lined pans. For mini cupcakes, fill with a tablespoon. For regular cupcakes, fill with 1/4 cup. Place half of a maraschino cherry on top of mini cupcakes or a whole cherry on top of regular cupcakes. Bake 10-12 minutes for mini cupcakes and 13-15 minutes for regular cupcakes.

7. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to finish cooling (at least 1 hour before frosting).

I prepare my frosting while the cupcakes are cooling.  You'll want to make the brown sugar frosting first:

1. Melt butter in saucepan.

2. Add brown sugar and bring to a boil. Lower to medium-low heat and continue boiling for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly.

4. Remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm.

5. After cooled, add powdered sugar gradually and stir until combined. The frosting should be thick enough to stand up, but not so thick that it can't be spread.  If it's is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add some hot water.

6. Prepare the butter cream frosting.  Beat the softened butter and powdered sugar together until combined. Add milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

7. Mix the two frostings until combined.  You could certainly use the brown sugar frosting or butter cream frosting on their own; just double the ingredients for whichever you are using.

8. Frost cupcakes after they have cooled completely.

The pineapple flavor on these came through wonderfully! And the frosting tastes a lot like the glaze you would find on a pineapple upside down cake.
  

The maraschino cherry!

I'll post my other flavor for you. It was the overall winner at work!

Tomato Tortellini Soup

I hate tomato soup. I think it's gross. I realize I may be alone in this, but it's the truth. I'll "eat" tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, which is really just me dipping my grilled cheese sandwich in the tomato soup and then refusing to finish the soup.  However, there is a restaurant in town, right by work, that serves a delicious creamy tomato tortellini soup.  It is to die for.  They serve it with a garlicy, buttery bread and I'm in heaven.  So I went in search of this recipe on the internet.  Unfortunately, this is a local restaurant, so there aren't hundreds of people out there trying to recreate the recipe.  I finally found a recipe that looked like it might not taste like the tomato soup I loathe and decided to give it a whirl.  It. Is. Fabulous.

I've been cooking quite a bit lately and discovered that working with onions and garlic is my least favorite thing in the world (for now).  And everything I want to cook as at least one, if not both. I wasn't feeling well when I made this and the idea of having to both cut up onions and mince garlic was horrible, so I used garlic salt and powder, and stuck with the real onions.  I've got both garlic options listed for you in the ingredients though. So if mincing garlic is your idea of fun, go crazy.

 

Ingredients 
adapted from Creamy Tomato Basil Tortellini Soup

olive oil

2 garlic gloves, minced OR 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 small onion, chopped

2 (15 oz) cans diced fire roasted tomatoes

2 (10.75 oz) cans Campbell's tomato soup

2 soup cans full of milk

1 tbs dried basil

1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth

3 tbs tomato paste

1/2 c half-and-half

1/4 c parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1 (19 oz) bag frozen tortellini


Directions

1. Coat bottom of large pot with olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft.

2. Add diced tomatoes, tomato soup, milk, and basil.  Stir until combined.

3. Add chicken broth and tomato paste and stir until combined. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add half-and-half and parmesan cheese. Stir until combined.

5. Add frozen tortellinis and cook until tender. At least 15 minutes.

6. Serve with parmesan cheese and your favorite bread (crunchy is best).

Elephant Collection at Pier 1

I've been to Pier 1 like three times in my life and I'm pretty sure I've never bought anything there.  However, when I was visiting family this summer I came across a Pier 1 catalog with this precious little guy:

Elephant Cookie Jar

Never in my entire life have I felt I needed something so badly.  An elephant cookie jar. And not just an elephant cookie jar.  An outrageously adorable, hand painted elephant cookie jar. I do not (yet) have said cookie jar in my possession, but if this does not make it with me when I have my own place, there will be a problem.  I would have it already, but at $44.95, it's just not quite in the poor college student budget I'm working with. Since I saw this, they've also added salt and pepper shakers and a bank.  Also cute, but nothing like this perfect cookie jar.

So, I'm into cookie jars now.  Let me know of any cute ones you've seen around.  And I suppose if you have this one, you can leave a comment about how amazingly awesome it is to make my jealous.