What’s been cooking?

Let’s pretend it hasn’t been months, shall we? Good. How about instead I share what I’ve been baking lately? Even better? Why, you’re awfully accommodating today.

Tops on the list was this:

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies. Yes, they are as good as they sound. And easy. Seriously. If you like brownies, cheesecake, red velvet cake, or all of the above (check), you MUST try these.

Another favorite was this:

Okay, it’s just a picture of zucchini and squash, the first from my garden this year. But they were turned into Zucchini Gratin. The end product was eaten so quickly and completely that I never had time for its close-up.

For dinner tonight, we had these:

What are they? I called them Grilled Fries. No recipe. I just took some red potatoes that were hanging around and cut them into quarters. I tossed them in olive oil and freshly cracked salt and pepper (yes, we have a salt mill as well as a pepper mill. DH has a thing about stuff matching. Which is extra odd since I have a thing about stuff not matching on purpose). Then I just laid them straight on the grill grates. In retrospect, they probably needed a little parbake in the microwave (as it stood, I zapped them for about a minute to finish off the cooking once they were done).

And last but not least, I made Soft Pretzel Bites. Yes, I realize those aren’t exactly bites. Unless you have, like, a really huge mouth. I lost patience for cutting the dough into bites. I made two trays of bites and then finished the dough up with regular soft pretzels. Just as fab as the bites. I left them unsalted so that we can dip them in melted butter and sprinkle with either salt or cinnamon sugar, as the moment calls for.

Red Velvet Cupcakes…

Among my baking weaknesses is Red Velvet Cake. Tom’s aunt brings a Red Velvet Smith Island Cake to family functions every year and I’ve become addicted to that cake. Add to that the Red Velvet Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory and now RVC is like cake Kryptonite to me.

Which is why when I volunteered to bake cupcakes to take to an event, I thought RVC would be perfect – I get to eat a few and take the rest away from my house. Unfortunately (not) the recipe made more than I anticipated and we were left with at least a dozen at our house. So sad.

Seriously, how was I supposed to resist this beauty?

Recipe: McCormick Red Velvet Cupcakes and Em’s Magnificent Cream Cheese Frosting.

Christmas Cupcakes…

I asked for a set of piping tips for Christmas. I didn’t get them. So I marched myself into the craft store and bought what I wanted. Actually, the set I asked for had ones I didn’t need, so this worked out. I wanted a huge tip (that’s what she said?) for piping frosting onto cupcakes, mainly. DH tells me I have the baking and frosting part of cakes down, so I should work on my presentation.

So I practiced on family, because what is family for, right? I took cupcakes using my favorite yellow cake recipe. I made a simple buttercream (you know, butter, powdered sugar and milk – I don’t usually use vanilla because…well, I tend forget it so I pretend it’s on purpose). Then I testing my new piping tip. LOVE!!! My cupcakes now taste and LOOK awesome. I picked up some sprinkles at Target for 75% off. Here’s what they looked like:

And they tasted good too.

Couch to 5K dropout...

Well, I'm not a total dropout. I'm still running. Just not using the podcasts like I had been at first. Although I used one last week and it helped a lot. But they bore the crap out of me. Now I need to convince DH that I need an iPod Touch so I can download the app that lets you use your own music.

The thing is that I need to find exercise that works for me and not worry about what my brother is doing (he's running 5 miles a day) or what people on the internet are doing. I need to worry about me, my health, my weight (which isn't budging and I'm pissed and frustrated). So I'm okay with not running 5Ks or running at all if that's what works for me. Some days I like to run. Today I power-walked. I'm moving and burning calories. Sometimes eating sensibly - most of the time, honestly, but being snowed in hasn't been good for me. I've been hit with the urge to bake. And if I'm going to bake, may as well bake stuff I like, right? So I made a pound cake Friday night. It was gone on Sunday. And sadly, I ate most of it. I know better than to make pound cakes. I can't resist them.

Today I'm going to make a red velvet cake. I've been dying for a red velvet cake ever since Tom's aunt had one at her Christmas party. Damn, it was good.

Recipe Review: Smitten Kitchen's Best Cocoa Brownies

My husband asked me last night why I even wanted to bake brownies from scratch. Um...you have to ask? Okay, first boxed mix brownies are unreliable - some brands are cakey, some are fudgy, some are in between. I've finally found my go-to boxed mix brownies - Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate. The only place in my rural area that carries them is Target, so I have to both remember that I want brownies and feel like driving all the way across a complicated one-way street town to get to it.

The last time I wanted brownies, I had no Ghirardelli mixes. The horror! So I tried the recipe on the back of the Baker's chocolate box, which several people had recommended I try. They were...okay. But I way undercooked them and by the time I realized it, they were cool and really couldn't go back in the oven. And the taste was so-so.

My mother-in-law made brownies on one of our Scout nights and although I wasn't feeling well, I loved the way they looked. I braved the rough seas of my stomach and tried one. It was lovely in texture - all fudgy, but completely lacking in chocolate flavor.

Then these came across my Google reader. I had to try them. Despite my weight-watching ways of late, these brownies were calling my name. I tried them last night.

Oh.

My.

GAWD.

These are...in a word, divine.

Happy birthdays...

Tomorrow is my beloved's birthday. Mine is four days after that. We love having both our birthdays in July (so much that our wedding bands have rubies in them - our mutual birthstone). We planned to have one of our children have a July birthday (though she didn't make it to being a Leo, like hubby and I are). Her birthday was last Tuesday. This is a special week for us. We're basically in party mode from July 21st to the 30th (my birthday).

And do you know what that means? CAKE!!!!! I love cake. And I love to bake. Seems like a match made in heaven, right? Actually....secret confession time...I prefer store-bought cake - like from the bakery. Whaaaaa? I know. But it's true. I have a sweet tooth, inherited from my mother's side of the family. Those without it or with a milder version prefer that whipped frosting some bakeries use. Not me. Lay that sugary goodness on me. In fact, I asked that my own birthday cake this year (normally I prefer to bake my own) come from a bakery.

However, I'm making a scratch cake for my husbands birthday tomorrow. He asked for Boston Cream Pie or a Black Forest Cake. I get to choose which I'd prefer to bake. I think I"m going with this recipe from my favorite website to drool over: Boston Cream Pie. Seriously. I see no end of things I want to bake on that website. Must. Resist. Must not eat....um, bake every single baked yummy on there.

I did it!

I grew vegetables! I picked my first three cucumbers this morning. I'm trying to come up with some method of serving them that honors their special "firstness." They'll probably rot before I figure it out. I also have tomatoes that are big and green, but should be red soon. And I have a pumpkin about the size of a child's fist. I may have planted my pumpkins too early.

Right now I'm on a quest for a pudding pop recipe. And it's not just frozen pudding. We tried that last year and it was not what we (the husband and I) remembered. I don't know if that classic Jell-O texture is recreatable, but I'm going to try.

I'm also thinking it's time to break out the ice cream maker. I don't know what I want to make yet, though. Just something icy and homemade. Right now I'm thinking chocolate gelato. My mom has requested peach ice cream, which I'm planning to do as soon as I get my hands on some fresh peaches.