Baklava

Sorry, I forgot to take step by step photos but here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

16 oz package of Phyllo dough
1 cup butter melted in the microwave
1 lb nuts crushed (walnuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios or any combination thereof)
1 tbsp cinnamon

Sauce:

1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the crushed nuts with the cinnamon.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 13 X 9 baking pan. Take phyllo dough out of container and roll it out onto a flat clean surface. Check to see if you need to cut it down in size to match the pan. Put 2 sheets of phyllo dough onto the bottom of the pan and butter them well. Repeat till the bottom is 8 sheets thick.

Sprinkle 3 tbsp of the nut mixture on top of the buttered dough. Layer with 2 sheets of dough, butter the dough and sprinkle nuts. Continue till the nuts are finished. The top layer should be 6 sheets deep.

Cut the whole thing into diamonds or squares with a sharp knife. Bake for 50 minutes.

While the baklava is baking, heat the water and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Add vanilla and honey and simmer for 20 minutes.

When the baklava is done, take it out and pour the syrup mixture over it. Let it cool and serve :-)

Vanilla cookies

As easy as easy gets

Recipe:

Vanilla cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix and drop marble sized balls onto greased baking dish.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

You can use any of the following combinations to replace the cake mix and extract:

- lemon cake mix with lemon juice
- chocolate cake mix with kahlua chocolate sauce
- Spice cake mix and cinnamon

Peanut Butter Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter - the recipe called for creamy, I used crunchy
1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

Butter recipe cake mix

Step 1:

Cream the peanut butter and butter together till it's creamy.

Step 2:

Add the eggs, one at a tiume, mixing them it thoroughly with the butter mix.

Step 3:

Add flour and water alternatingly and mix till it's nice and creamy.

Step 4:

Pour into a 9 inch round springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Check after 45 minutes to see if the cake is cooked through in the middle. If not, leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Step 5:

Let the cake cool on a wire rack.

Preparing the frosting:

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

4 cups confectioner's sugar

Heavy whipping cream

Cream the peanut butter and butter together till frothy. Add the sugar one cup at a time and mix it in well. Add a bit of whipping cream, just enough to make the frosting easy to spread.

Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. I added a bit of kahlua chocolate sauce and swirled it into the frosting.

Rum Cake

After making this cake for over a dozen times, I decided to record the recipe, more for my own records than anything else.

What you need:

1. Yellow cake mix
2. Vanilla pudding mix
3. 4 eggs
4. 1/4 cup oil
5. 1/2 cup milk
6. 1/2 cup rum
7. Bundt cake pan

Sift the cake mix and pudding mix well together. Mix the eggs, oil, milk and rum into it and mix at a medium speed for 5 minutes at least.

Oil and flour the cake pan and shake it upseid down to remove any excess flour. Pour the cake mix into the pan. Bake it at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. The cake should be a nice light golden color.

What you need for the glaze:

1. 1 cup sugar
2. 1/2 cup rum
3. 1/2 cup butter
4. 1/4 cup water

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat it over low heat, stirring constantly. It should be just a little syrupy when done.

Poke holes in the cake, as many as you can without breaking the cake :-) Pour the glaze all over the cake. Don't worry if there's too much, the cake will soak it up. Let it sit for a while to soak up all the glaze, then invert it onto a cake dish and serve.

Bipolar Blueberry Cobbler

How I hate thee, no how I love thee, now I am depressed, now I am happy, let me run around and get a million things done, where is my medication!!!!!!!! Simmer down now, let me focus, to feel any real sense of myself I need to make others happy so I spent most of the day baking this cobbler (actually it only took an hour, feel the martyrdom, feel sorry for me). Wow I have feelings, I didn't know desert brought out the best in me. Well anyhow the recipe came from Allrecipes and I doubled it except the sugar, it looked like it was too much sugar after 1 cup was sprinkled on the berries. I think I put too much dough on it and had to do a emergency cut in the middle, so hopefully it will turn out. Stay tuned until next time,

the psychotic kid.

Ingredients

• 5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 cup white sugar, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon butter, melted
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 teaspoons baking powder
• 12 tablespoons white sugar
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups milk
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon

Directions

Lightly grease an 13 x 9 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of flour, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and sugar. Rub in the butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces. Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes.





Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through. Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.


Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean - of course there will be blueberry syrup on the knife. Let cool until just warm before serving. This can store in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Co-dependent Carrot Cake

As the true co-dependent I am, I felt the pain Ms. Maggie was going through by not getting a carrot cake for her birthday. I just had to take care of one of my friends (at lease I think I am a friend, I could be a nuisance, who knows) and bake her a carrot cake. Of course I always have an ulterior motive, like for instance; to get a free diet Pepsi now and then, get approval from my co-workers, be the center of attention for one fleeting second of my pathetic and lonely life. Please shed no tears for me, dam 'em up. So with the help of Sylvie's mixer I added a tablespoon of love, a dash of passion, and a cup of loooooove potion. So feel the love people, feel the love.

Recipe: From Cooks.com

THE BEST MOST MOIST CARROT CAKE THERE IS!

1 1/2 c. unsifted all-purpose flour 3/4 c. sugar 1/2 c. packed brown sugar 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon 3 eggs 2 c. grated raw carrots 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 c. vegetable oil 1/2 c. walnuts (if desired) Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Beat eggs, oil and vanilla in small bowl. Add to dry ingredients and blend. Stir in carrots and walnuts (if desired). Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2 inch pan. Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool and spread with frosting. FROSTING: 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 1/4 c. butter 2 c. powdered sugar 1 tsp. vanilla Cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Not just the bar keep's friend

Buy this NOW!

I swear my range looked like it had survived a nuclear war. I have used everything on it. The orange clorox wipes that clean any spill I've made. I used steel wool which left slight scratches but that's not the optimal way to get a stovetop cleaned. Then, an aunt in Ohio told me to buy this and I swear my range top has never looked better!

Keep in mind that before I started, there were stains from the front burners to the back burners. Food stuck on, yellow stains, whatever you could think of.

It looks like this now:

Rum balls - a recipe from Kim Jenner

This is a recipe I got from a coworker and friend.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tbs coca powder

1.5 tbs light corn syrup

1/4 cup finely ground pecans

1/4 cup rum

1.5 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (I substituted 1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs and 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs)

Mix all the ingredients except for the wafer crumbs till well mixed. Pour in the crumbs and mix into a dough. Pinch off little pieces and roll into balls. Roll the rum balls in confectioners sugar and store on wax paper in the fridge.

Tropical smoothie

Sorry for the emptiness here. I just bought the most awesome blender there ever was: The Osterizer!

Why I picked this over every other blender and shelled out a nice $120?
- 1000 Watts of power
- A really thick glass jar
- The claim that it can crush ice in seconds, which I already tested and proved

So, here's the recipe for the very first thing I made in my brand new blender:

Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt
1 lb or 750 grams mango - frozen or freshly sliced
1/2 cup mango or mango-pineapple juice
1 cup ice cubes



First, crush the ice in the blender; then, add the rest of the ingredients.



Blend it well. Pour and enjoy!



Hint: This is somewhat tart. If you like yours sweeter, add a banana and a 1/2 cup milk to the smoothie.

Pork Chops

Apologies up front, for not having step by step pictures, but I was in a hurry and wasn't sure how it would turn out. But, it turned out yummilicious, so here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

any number of chops, 1 inch thick
1/2 cup flour
salt
black pepper
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
fennel seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Sauce:
1 cup water
4 tablespoon ketchup
4 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoon jam (marmalade, plum jam, strawberry jam, anything you like)

Heat oil in medium skillet till pinch of flour sizzles. Mix the flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper to taste. Cover the chops on both sides with the flour mixture. Put into the hot oil and cover with fennel seeds. Brown on both sides over medium heat till brown.

Mix the sauce ingredients and pour over the pork chops. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes on medium heat. Spoon sauce over chops when serving.

I broke down

and bought a mixer. A heavy duty kitchen mixer with a dough hook and a splatter guard.

But, instead of spending over $300 on a Kitchenaid mixer, I bought the JCPenney brand Cooks mixer for $169.

The reasons behind this choice:

- The Cooks' mixer was almost half the price

- It has the same 5 quart capacity as the Kitchenaid

- It has a lot more power at 700 Watts than the 325 Watts Kitchenaid gives you

- It has 12 speed levels versus 10 (though this one wasn't really that big of a consideration)

Overall, I bought this so I could get my dough kneaded so I can make Indian flat bread: chapatis.

Any vegetable recipe

This recipe goes out to all those moms out there whose measurements consist of eyeballing things and pouring it into the palm and throwing it into the pan and continuing that till it tastes just right :-)

Ingredients:

A few chopped onions
A few chopped green peppers (substitute any vegetable for that - squash, mixed frozen mix of any kind ...)
A few cubed potatoes
Salt, red chilli powder, black pepper, ginger, garlic, garam masala to taste

Put enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet and add onions once the oil is hot. Add the spices to the onions and cook till soft.

Add the potatoes and around a cup of water. Cover and cook on medium heat till potatoes are softer but not fully cooked.

Add the green peppers with a little more water if all the water has dried. Cook till the peppers are soft. Colorful and easy dish.

Oh, and just like all the moms out there, I forgot to mentiont that with the potatoes, I also put in a couple of tomatoes.

Shahi Paneer

Shahi means fit for the Kings. Paneer means cheese. To make paneer at home, you take whatever amount of milk and curdle it by adding a few drops of lemon to it while it's boiling. Then, you hand it in a fine cheesecloth till most of the moisture has dripped out of it and it's taken on the consistency of cottage cheese.

This cheese dish is resplendant with a rich creamy sauce filled with cashews and raisins and spices. A quick warning: this is NOT for the weak hearted. This is a very spicy dish.

The ingredients:

8 oz container of cream, 1 tsp garam masala (available at any Indian grocery store), 2 tsp ginger powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup cashews and raisins, 2 medium onions, 1/2 lb paneer cubed, 2 green chillis, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup milk

Brown the paneer cubes in the oil for a couple minutes and put them aside. Put the ginger, garlic, onions, and chillis in a blender or food processor and make a paste. Put the paste in the oil and brown it till the oil separates. What does that mean. It's when the oil starts seeping out the edges and bubbles.

Add the red chilli powder, salt, turmeric and garam masala to the paste and brown for a couple minutes. Add the paneer cubes and milk and let the sauce thicken. Add the cream and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Leave the sauce a little thin because it'll thicken more as it just sits.

Yes, I tend to burn the paneer cubes :-)

Hint for the day: Make a pound or two of the ginger, garlic and onion paste and freeze it. It's really easy to unfreeze and use in any Indian dish you are making.

Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

Top line: Can of coconut milk, 1/2 cup unsalted whole cashews, 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1/4 cup vegetable oils
Bottom line: 1 lb chicken cut in 1 inch cubes, 1 medium onion thinly sliced
Plate: 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 clove garlic crushed, 1 tsp ginger thinly grated

A good way to crush garlic is to hold a braod knife on top of the clove and smash it down with the heel of your hand.

Heat 1/2 of the oil and cook the chicken pieces till golden brown on both sides:

Put the other 1/2 of the oil into the skillet, heat it and add the fennel seeds, curry powder and coriander powder. Wait till the oil starts smelling like the spices, then add the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook till onion is soft and transluscent.

Add the coconut milk to the skillet and bring to a boil. Add the chicken pieces and cook it till tender. Add the frozen peas and cook for 5 more minutes. Put the cashews in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes and sprinkle on top of the chicken.

If you get to buy one thing and one thing only for your kitchen, buy a silicone splatter guard. It was probably one of the best things I ever bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond.