I was asked to make a cake for an event! Some friends from church were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and their daughter (also a friend) asked yours truly to make a mini-wedding cake. The event had a fall theme and their wedding colors back in 1984 were burgundy and silver. I have been told by many that I should open a bakery. I do love to bake, but have NO desire to ever own my own business again! Making one special cake every 6 months…now that is great fun.
Sherri’s Bakery. October 23, 2009
10.10.2009 October 10, 2009
Today we woke up to this-
So, we’ve been doing a lot of this-
And some of this-
And we made some of these-
They are unbelievably good and have chick-peas in the dough!
Visit my cooking blog to see this unique recipe.
summer of squash. July 30, 2009
It’s that time of year! Everyone has an overabundance of summer squash. We love zucchini and squash, but what can you do when you receive A LOT of it all at once from a very generous family member? Of course it is the very best freshly grilled with olive oil and a little salt and pepper, but after a few days of that- you may want to look for a few other options. I have made a heavenly chocolate zucchini cake, then I made a healthier zucchini bread (recipe below)
ZUCCHINI BREAD
2 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. applesauce
2 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. zucchini, grated
STREUSEL:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. butter
Combine dry ingredients set aside. Beat eggs and add oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir. Fold in zucchini. Pour into 2 greased bread pans. For streusel- combine ingredients and blend with a fork until there are no large clumps. Top with streusel and bake at 325 for approximately 60 minutes.
After all of that baking, I still had a TON of squash left. So, I decided to freeze it for later. The best way to do this is to cut the squash into 1/2″ slices and blanch in boiling water (cook for only about 3 minutes). Remove the squash from the water and place immediately in a bowl of ice water. Cool about 5 minutes and drain. Seal in ziplock bags and viola! If you want to freeze your zucchini so that you can use it to bake in the future- grate the zucchini and steam it for about 2 minutes before sealing in ziplock bags.
Greta enjoying some zucchini bread.
Stefanie’s Cheesecake wonton cups. July 30, 2009
I love short cuts. Especially when you can NOT tell that a short cut has been made! This is a recipe from my friend Stefanie. I have had these on several occasions and each time, everyone RAVES about them! This is one of the recipes that I made for my sister’s bridal shower last weekend. Enjoy!
Cheesecake Won ton Cups
1 pkg. won ton wrappers
1 container Philadelphia cheesecake filling (premade, and at your grocery store by the cream cheese)
1 jar lemon curd (fancy jam or pie filling would even work)
whipped cream (the kind in a can works best)
fresh raspberries (blackberries would be terrific, too)
Using a mini-cupcake pan, press wonton wrappers into pan. Spray lightly with PAM (I used olive oil spray). Sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.
Bake at 350 for approximately 5 minutes, or until golden. Cool.
Fill cooled shells with about 1 t. of cheesecake filling, 1 t. lemon curd. Top with whipped cream and place one single raspberry on top. Garnish by sifting confectioner’s sugar over just before serving.
I’m not crunchy. July 7, 2009
My husband often teases me for being “crunchy”. Very funny. Not sure if I am officially crunchy, but whatever. The thing I find hilarious is that he himself is pretty darn crunchy—you tell me… does this sound like someone who is crunchy???
**edited to include definition after discovering some naughty things on the linked website (Crunchy=adjective. used to describe persons who have altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons, ie; tree huggers, hippies, vegans, environmentalists, natural food store shopping, granola, green)
-He is obsessed with buying organic produce and is completely freaked out that our children might be eating pesticides.
-He becomes very angry if he runs out of granola.
-He likes tofu.
-It is his dream to own a moped.
-He tried to get his office to start recycling.
-He is trying to grow his beard indefinitely.
Hmmmm? What’s the verdict?
In honor of my increasingly crunchy husband…here is the granola recipe that I make for him.
GRANOLA
3 c. oats
1 c. raw sunflower seeds (or nuts)
1 c. shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. pure maple syrup
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 t. salt
1 c. dried fruit (I used blueberries this time)
Combine sugar, syrup, oil and salt. Combine oats, seeds and coconut, stir. Add oil mixture to oats. Spread over 2 cookie sheets and bake at 250 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes until done to your liking (I did 30 minutes). Cool and add dried fruit. Store in airtight container. Makes approximately 6 cups.
science experiment. May 21, 2009
I wonder how many different cookie recipes I’ve made through the years?!?!?!?! I got my first cook book in 1st grade and have been baking and cooking since! In grade school I won a purple (or was it blue?) ribbon for my chocolate mint cookies. In 5th grade my science experiment was “Butter vs. Margarine”. We made chocolate chip cookies for our scientific taste test.
Well today I sought out to create my own cookie recipe. When cooking, it is very easy to create a new recipe successfully. When baking, it is a little more difficult. You have to have the correct ratio of ingredients or the cookies will be too flat, too cakey or worst of all…taste bad! Baking is a lot like a science experiment. I am very pleased to say that the cookies turned out AMAZING!
Peanut Butter*Coconut*Chocolate chip cookies
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
3/4 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 1/4 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 325. Combine butters and cream. Add sugars, cream. Add egg and vanilla, combine. Add dry ingredients and mix. Add chocolate chips and fold in.
Bake for 8-12 minutes until golden brown.
I make cookies a lot. BUT-when I do make them I usually only bake one batch. This way I can roll the remaining dough into balls and freeze them for the next time we have unexpected guests 
kolaches. October 20, 2008
What? You’ve never had a kolache? Around here, most people have had a kolache. Most people actually have their own family recipe that is “the best”. The kids and I spent Sunday afternoon in Wahoo at my parents. My Dad thought it would be fun to make some homemade kolaches, but to knead and partially rise the dough in the bread machine. We were so excited to see our results! If the bread machine yielded delicious kolaches, we would have found a precious shortcut to a long and laborious recipe. So? How were they? Awesome!
We used the dough recipe from my Grandma Swanda. The dough can also be used to make clover leaf rolls, crescent rolls- just about anything. We did the fillings Grandma Hain style. Her secret for good poppy seed filling is a little grape jam mixed in. But, you can use an type of filling. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and now that Dad has discovered a quick and easy way to make kolaches, I think we’ll be making them a lot more often!
Grandma Swanda’s Kolache dough
1 1/2 c. Milk (Evaporated or whole milk)
6 T. Margarine, softened
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
3 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1T. plus 3/4 t. dry active yeast
4 1/2 c. flour
fillings of your choice
Warm milk in microwave or on stove top. Place warm milk, eggs, margarine, salt and sugar in bread machine. Cover completely with flour. Pour yeast on top of flour. Turn bread machine on dough setting.
When dough is done- roll into 2″ balls and place an inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Cover with tea towel and rise 30 minutes or until double in size. Place fingers in center of dough ball and pulling outward, create a well for the filling. Repeat on each ball. Fill each with filling. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes.
Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Peach dump cake. September 21, 2008
My family is weird.
There are a few dessert recipes that my Mother makes frequently when she has us over for dinner. For some reason, if she received a recipe from a friend…we won’t call the recipe-”Chocolate pudding dessert” we’ll simply call the dessert “Mary Smith” or whomever my mother received the recipe from. We find it extremely funny to joke about eating my Mom’s friends. This is one of those recipes. I won’t tell you “who” it is, but it is easy (so easy a bachelor could make it) and very good.
Peach Dump Cake
large can sliced peaches in syrup
white cake mix
1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted
1/2 c. chopped pecans
vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 350. Pour can of peaches, syrup and all in 9×13 pan. Evenly sprinkle cake mix over peaches. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle pecans on top. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with ice cream.
mmmmmmm. July 30, 2008
I thought I’d share some of my favorite recipes- Just click on the photo for the recipe!
Pina Colada Cupcakes. July 4, 2008
We decided to go on a family picnic today. What a perfect excuse to try a recipe for Pina Colada Cupcakes! I found a recipe at Good Things Catered, but did not have all the ingredients- so I made many substitutions. The next time I make these- I will toast the coconut topping and call them Toasted Coconut Cupcakes.
Piña Colada Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. sifted cake flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
2 large eggs
1/2 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
Pineapple frosting
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 T. plus 1 t. pineapple juice
2 c. powdered sugar
Extra shredded coconut to top
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with baking cups.
-Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
-Combine pineapple juice and milk in small bowl, mix to combine and set aside.
-Place sugar and oil in mixer and mix until well blended.
-Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
-Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
-Stir in vanilla and fold in coconut.
-Spoon batter into prepared pans.
-Sharply tap the pans once on counter top to remove air bubbles.
-Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
-Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
-When cupcakes are completely cool, frost with frosting and roll tops in shredded coconut.
