Caramel Candy Brownies and another loaf of bread!

Are you sick of the bread yet?

I'm certainly not...its delicious! 

Friends of ours came for dinner tonight with their daughter, Everly.  When Matt and I were engaged, Maureen and Andy bought us The Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook.  Whenever they come, I try to use some recipes out of it to show them how much I love it.  Everything I've made from this book has been fantastic.   I decided on the following menu...

Appetizer:

Brie with Apricot Topping (from the Year of Slowcooking blog)

Main Course:

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan (from the cookbook)

Fetucine Alfredo

Broccoli with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts (from the cookbook)

Sun-dried tomato and mozzarella bread

Dessert:

Caramel Candy Brownies (from the bookbook)

Leftover Peanut Brownies (from my snow day on Wednesday!)

With some help from my parents, who are in from out of town, and Matt, dinner came together perfectly.  That doesn't always happen for me when I try to make dinner.  Something usually is undercooked or burnt or simply doesn't turn out the way I had hoped.  I was lucky this time!

As you can tell, I'm still on my bread machine kick...

For once, the loaf looked different from the outside!

How good do those sun-dried tomatoes look?

The inside was moist and savory.  The bits of tomato were a nice addition.

The caramel candy brownies were a recipe I've been wanting to try from the cookbook I mentioned earlier.  The basic brownie recipe was different from other brownies I had made in the past, but came out pretty good.  The authors of the cookbook said that you could use caramel candies or chopped up snickers.  Who can resist a snickers?  I certainly can't.

The desserts were a perfect ending to a fantastic meal and time with good friends.   Thanks, Maureen, Andy and Everly.  We hope you had a good time and can come again soon!

Another Snow Day!

Have I mentioned that I'm like a little kid on a snow day?

I'm lucky enough to work at a place that closes if it snows bad enough.  I wake up extra early waiting for a phone call saying that our agency is closed.  Usually, the phone call comes before 6 am.  This morning, at 6:25 am, I thought that we were going to have to go into work.  However, at 6:26, the phone rang!  I couldn't be more excited.  Its probably the only time before 8am when I sound alert and awake on the phone!  I promptly went back to sleep for another two hours, then woke up to start my day.  I made a list of everything  I wanted to accomplish today, and as of right now, I accomplished all but one of them.  After I write this blog, I may go finish that up, just so I can cross everything off of my list.  Why is it that crossing things off lists is so cathartic?   I feel super productive!

A few of the things on my list had to do with baking, of course!  As I mentioned previously, I normally bake cookies on snow days, but I need a little more time before I'm back in the mood for cookies after Christmas.  For dinner, I decided to make chicken noodle soup in the crockpot, and make grilled cheese sandwhiches.  That is one of my favorite cold night, comfort combinations.  I thought I'd try to fancy up the grilled cheese sandwhiches by making my own loaf of bread.  (Have I mentioned how much I love my new bread machine??)  After flipping though the recipe booklet, I finally found a recipe for which I had all of the ingredients I needed.  No way was I running out in the snow and ice to get more ingredients!  I decided on Parmesan Peppercorn French Bread.  Its sort of a joke in my family how much I love Parmesan.  Everyone makes sure at dinner to get to the parm first so that I don't hog it all!  Again, the bread machine makes it so easy to have a fresh loaf of bread in a few simple steps. 

 

I should probably stop taking pictures of the whole loaf of bread...from the outside, they all look the same!  However, if you look close, you can see the little bits of peppercorn.

The inside of the bread looks like a simple loaf of french bread, but when you bite into it, you can immediately taste the delicious blend of parmesan and peppercorn. 

I sliced up some cheddar cheese and made the grilled cheese extra crispy.  Grilling the bread really brought out more of the cheese flavor in the bread, and I thought it was the perfect combination!  Here's a picture of my soup that I made as well.  So simple to do in the crockpot.  Just add some leftover chicken, chicken broth, carrots, celery, onion and seasonings (which ever kind you like...I used Italian seasoning) to the crockpot and let sit for six to eight hours on low.  About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat, add any type of noodle you'd like to the pot.  I used egg noodles.  Voila!  The perfect snowy night meal.

For dessert, I wanted to make something simple but different.  I stared at my stash of cookbooks and decided to use my 101 Things to do with a Cake Mix cookbook. 

I had a box of white cake mix that was dangerously close to its expiration date, so I flipped through until I found a recipe that called for white cake mix.  I knew I found the perfect one when I saw "Peanut Butter Brownies."  And better yet, the ingredient list was small and I had all of them! 

All you need is:

1 box of white or yellow cake mix

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

2 eggs

2/3 cup of chunky peanut butter ( I didn't have chunky, only smooth, so I used that and then chopped up some peanuts to add to the mixture.)

1 1/2 tablespoons of milk (I thought the glaze was a little thick so I added a splash more of milk)

1 cup of powdered sugar

Add the first four ingredients to a mixing bowl, mix, and bake in a 9x12 baking dish at 350 degrees for about 16-18 minutes.  As soon as you pull the dish out of the oven, mix your powdered sugar and milk and drizzle over the "brownies" until even. 

I was nervous that this wasn't going to taste so great, but it definitely did.  It sort of tasted like peanut butter cookie dough.   I thought that I wouldn't like the glaze on top and wish that I had put some chocolate sauce over it, but the glaze complements it perfectly. 

Alright, well, back to being productive and checking things off my list! 

My new bread machine

I think we may be eating lots of carbs over the next few weeks...

Mostly because I am loving my new bread machine from my mom and dad!  So, before I show you what I've made so far, let me tell you the story of the bread machine.  In early December, I visited my parents to do lots of shopping...my father is still feeling the burn on his credit card.  One of the days, we went to the outlets and stopped in a kitchen store.  There was a floor model bread maker there for a great deal.  My mother had been saying that she wanted one for awhile, so my dad and she bought it.  I was a little frustrated because my parents have this great knack for buying things right before the holidays, leaving their children in a panic figuring out what to get them for a gift!  I proceeded to give my mother a great deal of grief about it over the next few weeks.  Well, much to my surprise, I opened a bread maker from my parents Christmas Eve.  Not just any bread maker, the one my parents had "bought for themselves."  They got me!  I sort of felt like an idiot for making fun of them for the past few weeks.  Oops!

Anyway, I decided to try it out yesterday.  After a few frantic g-chats with my sister-in-law, I finally figured out how to use the thing.  It couldn't be easier!  It even has a feature that you delay making the bread so that it will be warm when you get home from work.  How cool is that?!  You simply layer the ingredients in the machine, press the start button, then walk away.   However, as my sister-in-law pointed out, its not so efficient when you keep staring at the thing, saying "What the (bleep) is it doing now?" 

I decided to stick with the recipes from the manual to start.  The first recipe I flipped to was a Pesto Bread.  I had a little bit of pesto leftover in the fridge and thought I'd use it up.  All I had to do was layer water, olive oil, pesto, sea salt, bread flour, sugar, and yeast into the machine, click on my desire settings and press the start button.  A few hours later, this delicious loaf of bread was ready for the eating!

I chose the 1 lb. loaf option, since it was just Matt and I.  However, if I choose the 2lb. option, does is just make the loaf taller?  I may have to try it out and see...

Can  you see the little bits of basil throughout the bread?  So yummy.

I heated up some leftover marinara sauce last night, and we used it as a dipping sauce for the bread.  This afternoon, during the Eagles game (tear...), I poured some spices and olive oil in a bowl to dip.  Perfection.

This afternoon, I decided to try one of the sweeter recipes.  Cinnamon Swilrl Bread fit the bill (and I had all of the ingredients on hand).  I layered milk, butter, egg, salt, sugar, bread flour, and yeast into the machine and pressed start.  After the last kneading cycle and before the final rise cycle, the machine beeps and indicates that you can add the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  I pulled the dough out of the machine, removed the kneading paddle, rolled out the dough and poured the cinnamon and sugar evenly over it.  Then, I rolled up the dough and put it back in the machine.  An hour later, this lovely loaf appeared....

Looks a lot like the first loaf, until you cut into it...

Scrumptious cinnamon swirls!  It worked!  I don't know why I'm so proud of myself, I didn't really do anything..the machine did!

I can't wait to toast up a slice in the morning for breakfast.

If you've ever thought of making your own bread, invest in one of these puppies.  So easy, and the bread comes out perfect each time.  Expect lots of bread posts from me over the next few months.  I can't wait to try a bunch of different reicpes. I think I may try to make a traditional white bread loaf over the next week.  Perhaps we won't have to buy bread for Matt's sandwhiches anymore :)

Bread

Banana Bread and Garlic & Herb Bread

For Christmas, my mom and dad bought me a bread machine.  I was super excited to try it out, but I got a little stalled when I realized that a small, but important, piece was missing.  Cuisinart was fantastic and shipped it to me right away, but  I went ahead and made some breads the old fashioned way.  My in-laws were coming a few days after Christmas, and I thought I'd make a garlic & herb bread from my new Williams-Sonoma Bread cookbook.  I timed it perfectly that it was still warm when I served it.  I paired it with some dipping spices and olive oil.  So delicious.  There wasn't a slice left!

Can you see all of those delicious bits of herbs?

I also decided to make some banana bread with the over-ripe bananas left on my counter.  My brother, Johnny, loves banana bread, so I thought I'd treat him as a New Years Eve gift :) 

I used my usual recipe that I have written down on the back of an envelope...I have no idea where it came from, but it turns out yummy every time. 

I thought I'd wrap it up nice for him and use my brand new label embosser that I received as a Christmas gift from my goddaughter, Caleigh.  So cute, right?!  Makes me feel like a pseudo-professional.  I believe its from Williams-Sonoma. 

The piece that I needed for the bread maker came in yesterday, so I'll post some breads once I use it!

Happy Birthday, Johnny!

My brother Johnny's birthday was on Tuesday, so we decided to celebrate by having one of his favorite meals last night....tacos.  Johnny, my sister-in-law, Abby, and my cousins Karl, Claudine and Holly came for dinner.  It was a nice, low-key night with lots of laughs and delicious food.  Johnny is not one for birthday cake but is a huge fan of banana bread.  Holly won't eat anything called bread, so instead, we were calling it banana cake.  I think she was upset that there was no icing!  As soon as we sung Happy Birthday, she just started yelling, "I need a plate!  I need a plate!"  HILARIOUS!  I used Martha Stewart's recipe for banana bread but ommitted the walnuts since Abby is allergic to nuts...I think I like it better without the nuts.  Also, I added cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  I like it a little spicier...

Banana "cake" all ready for singing. 

Can you see all of those delicious spices?

Holly was excited to sing!  She did a great job helping Johnny blow out the candles. 

The table all set for dinner...

Happy Birthday, Johnny.  Love you!

Our trip to San Fransisco....

Food, food, and more food...

You may have noticed that I haven't been around all week.  Matt and I headed to San Fransisco for a long weekend to attend my cousin Timmy's wedding.  We were lucky enough to be able to stay with our fabulous friends, Sean and Shira.  Their hospitality was much appreciated.  We spent time in the city, went to a Giants game at AT&T field, went to the beautiful and fun wedding, then went up Mount Diablo in VERY HOT weather.  All in all, it was a great time.  We got to see lots of friends besides our lovely hosts and lots of family members. 

We were in San Fransisco for more than a day when I realized that most of my pictures were of food.  When Matt pointed it out to me, I thought, "Yeah?  What's wrong with that?!"  We started with lunch at Boudin in Fisherman's Wharf.  None of us spoke during lunch.  We were too busy enjoying our sourdough lunches!  Before we even ordered our sandwhiches, I was oogling the bread animals on display.  

How cute are these guys!? 

Next came our fantastic meals.  Matt and our friends, Sean and Shira, ordered the clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.  I took a simpler approach and ordered a grilled cheese.  It was the most delicious and satisfying grilled cheese I have ever eaten.  I'm assuming that the murmuring and grunting coming from everyone else meant that they enjoyed their clam chowder. 

Best. Lunch. Ever.

Then we headed over to Ghirardelli Square and checked out Kara's Cupcakes. 

 Sean and I were the only ones to indulge as he shares my affinity for all things cupcake.  Each of us struggled to decide which one we wanted to try, so we decided to order three and split them. 

(Left to Right) Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Ganache, Java and Key Lime Pie. 

Seeing as I am usually devoted to Chocolate, I assumed I'd have to choose between the Peanut Butter and the Java.  Turns out, Sean and I both agreed that the Key Lime Pie was our favorite.  It was light and refreshing with a graham cracker crust.  YUM!!!

Can you see that delicious key lime center?

Finally, we had a great time at Tim and Meghan's wedding.  They are a super fun couple who have a lot of style while knowing how to have a good time.    This could not have been more evident than in their favors and cake!

Gum Ball machines as favors.  So cute!

The design of their cake matched their invitations, which were designed by the bride.

How cute are the twinkie bride and groom!?  Meghan and Tim really know how to have style but throw in a little whimsy at the same time.

Overall, it was a great weekend, although way too short!  Congratulations, Tim & Meghan, and thanks for the hospitality, Sean & Shira!

Hard Cider Bread

Magner's Bread

So, I know most people make beer bread, but I don't like beer.  However, I do LOVE Magner's, which is what Bulmer's is called in America.  I fell in love with Bulmer's in Ireland and was heartbroken when I found out you couldn't get it in America.  However, after some research, awesome information from a friend, and the generosity of my brother, I have been able to enjoy a bottle of Magner's from time to time.  I wanted to make some bread to go along with the cheddar fondue I've been craving, so I decided to mix it up and use a  bottle of Magner's instead to add to my beer bread recipe.  It was delicious!!!  Oh, and I made an applewood smoked cheddar and Magner's fondue to go with it.  Add some apples, carrots, and celery, and I was in heaven! 

I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the fondue, but we were just too excited to eat it while it was hot!