Hello October!

Hi. It's October. This makes me happy. October means lovely fall weather, sweater/boots attire, my birthday, Halloween, and any and all things pumpkin. My first pumpkin baked good of the season is a real doozy. And by doozy, I mean awesomely AWESOME. Yes, "awesomely AWESOME." Pumpkin cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. Hello, I'll take five please. Thank you. My lovely friend, Jade, helped me make these. Thanks, friend! :)








Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

1/3 c. milk
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 pkg. dry yeast
2 c. bread flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. melted butter

In small saucepan, heat milk and 2 tbsp butter just until warm and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. In large mixer bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add milk mixture and beat with electric mixer until well mixed. Beat in egg and yeast.

Add half of flour to pumpkin mixture. Beat mixture on low speed for 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly (dough will be very soft). Turn into lightly greased bowl, then grease surface of dough lightly.

Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Turn dough onto floured surface. Knead a few turns to form a smooth dough, sprinkling with enough additional flour to make dough easy enough to handle. Roll dough into 12X10 inch rectangle.

In small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jellyroll style. Pinch seam to seal. With sharp knife, cut roll into twelve 1-inch slices. Place rolls, cut side up, in greased 11X17 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake rolls at 350 degrees about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to waxed paper-lined wire rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting. (The original recipe uses a caramel icing, which is totally delicious as well. But I prefer cream cheese frosting!)

Hunting, Gathering...the "Caveman" Diet

Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Grapefruit. All "popular" diets at one time or another, that many Americans have picked up. I personally, have never tried to be on a diet...until now. I introduce the Paleoithic diet a.k.a the "Caveman" diet.

My brother has been raving about this diet for months now. He swears by it. With the caveman diet, you only eat lean meats, fruits, lots of veggies and nuts. No dairy, grains, legumes, starches, processed sugars and processed foods and no alcohol.

The overall idea is, "If you can't hunt or gather it, you can't eat it." Slightly strict, but isn't that the point of a diet?

So now my diet consists of grilled chicken, tuna, veggies, fruits, and nuts. However, I am making a few minor exceptions. I still have the occasional alcoholic beverage and I still get my peanut butter, duh. And one, ok, two, alright three of these...

Oh my gooooodnesssss. Danishes, kolaches, whatever, I looooove them dearly. Growing up we had a bakery in town, run by some Mennonite women, that turned out these delicious pastries. So darn yummy. And I took a crack at 'em and succeeded! Set aside a day to make these, you'll be happy you did.

I think I've actually heard of wild Danish herds up north. Maybe they can be hunted? ;)

I love cherry...

and cream cheese is by far my favorite, but...

together, it makes my heart (& tummy) very, very happy.

Cherry Cheese Danish (Kolache)
adapted from pete bakes!

Dough:
1 package instant dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
4 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
3/4 cup shortening, divided
1 cup warm milk
3 eggs

Cream Cheese filling:
2 8oz packages of cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cherry filling:
1 can cherry pie filling

Glaze (optional-I just like a sprinkling of powdered sugar, personally)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla


In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, 1/4 cup shortening, sugar, 2 eggs, salt, lemon peel, vanilla and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth an elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about an hour).

Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 24×16 inch rectangle. Dot half of the dough with 1/4 cup shortening; fold dough in half lengthwise. Dot with shortening and fold lengthwise into thirds. Dot with remaining shortening and fold widthwise into thirds.

Roll dough into a 16×15 inch rectangle. Cut into 8×3/4 inch strips, coil into spiral shapes, tucking end underneath the coil to form a bottom. Place on a greased baking sheet and cover and let rise until doubled (about an hour).

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat remaining egg, make a depression in the center of each roll and brush with egg. Fill each with the cheese filling, cherry filling, or both.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. While baking, combine the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla to form the glaze. Drizzle over the danishes while they are still warm.

Hooray...the April Edition

More things to "Hooray!" for...

Hooray for glorious weather and days at the park.

Hooray for sisters that are beasts on the court. Don't mess.

Hooray for wishes.

Hooray for rockin' sweet shades at night.

Hooray for self-portraits and timers on cameras.

Hooray for coonskin hats.

Hooray for a good book and niece to curl up with.

Hooray for cereal. And fruit. Together. Yum.

Hooray for writing papers...

Psych. It's really quite unpleasant.

Hooray for royalty.

Hooray for Matt and Dave.

And a best friend to enjoy them with.

Hooray for strawberries.

And turning those strawberries into a scrumptious cake!

This is one of my all-time favorite cakes I make. Just in time for Easter lunch, dinner, dessert, whatever. It's the perfect spring dessert, just the right amount of sweetness and strawberries and it's gorgeous to look at. And the frosting...oh, man. I could eat it by the spoonful. But that's just not proper. Eh, forget that, where's my spoon?! Bake it, eat it, share it, enjoy it! :)



Southern Style Strawberry Cake
adapted from Joy the Baker and Sweets

1 (18.5 ounce) box white cake mix (without pudding)

1 (3 ounce) package strawberry jello

1 Tablespoon self rising flour

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup fresh strawberries, finely diced.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To make the cake, combine to cake mix, Jello, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition Add the water and strawberries and mix well. Divide the batter evenly into three 8-inch round baking pans that have been oiled and floured. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the layers pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer the layers from the oven to wire racks. Let them cool, still in their pans, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the inside edge of each pan, then unmold each layer onto the racks to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

2 (1 pound) boxes powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (optional)

pink food coloring

4 sliced strawberries

To make the frosting, in a bowl combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat until soft and pliable and no lumps remain. Add one box of the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat until incorporated. Add the second box of sugar and mix until incorporated. If you would like a smoother consistency, and a slash of milk. If you would like a thicker consistency, and a bit more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is achieved.

Once the cake is frosted, you can decorate with the shredded coconut and sliced strawberries, or just one or the other! To die coconut place the coconut in a small bowl and sprinkle with two or three drops of pink die and mix with hands. Let dry then decorate!

What I Ate During the Super Bowl (I'm Not Creative Right Now, Hence Blog Title)

I'm tired.

I'm ready for this semester to be over already. (Yeah, yeah, "don't waste your life away..." I get it, whatever.)

Because of this state of "tiredness" I find myself in, I'm beginning to neglect things, such as eating dinner and updating this blog.

I need to do a better job of both.

I'm tired. Wait, I told you that already. I'm losing my mind...

Here's what I made for a Super Bowl party this past Sunday. (BTW, how about those commercials? Kudos to VW and Doritos, but Groupon, shame on you. Wanting to raise awareness is good, but you could have done it another way.)

Now, to the food.

Buffalo Chicken Dip.

This could easily be a meal in itself. Believe me, I've done it. (Shout out to Sara for introducing me to this delicious dip!)

For dessert, I made this again. And of course it was a hit.

You need, nay, MUST make these dips soonish. Can you say, "Thursday night dinner?"

Buffalo Chicken Dip
adapted from Swanson


1 pkg. (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing or ranch salad dressing
2 cans (12.5 ounces each) Swanson® Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
1/2 cup any flavor FRANK'S® RedHot® sauce
Assorted fresh vegetables or crackers

Heat the oven to 350° F. Stir the cream cheese in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate with a fork or whisk until it's smooth. Stir in the dressing, pepper sauce and blue cheese. Stir in the chicken. Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir before serving. Serve with the vegetables and crackers for dipping

Oh, Hey, Hi...Cupcake?

Merry "Belated" Christmas and Happy New Year's, 10 days too late. I hope you all had fantabulous holidays with family and friends and got everything your little hearts desired. I've kind of gone off the grid the last couple of weeks and I apologize. To make up for my lack of shared, sugary delights, I give you my signature dessert, that my cousin Chris requests at all family gatherings, Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting.


Terrific recipe from the always terrific Joy. A busy baking week lies ahead for me (cake decorating!). So keep an eye out for more posts!

Note, these pics are from this summer, BUT I've made these cupcakes twice over break.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
adapted from Joy the Baker

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 tbsp. red food coloring
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. distilled white vinegar


Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place rack in upper third of oven.
In bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add egg. Beat until well incorporated.
In separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until well combined. Scrape sides of the bowl to make sure all of batter is incorporated with red paste.
Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until well combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.
Spoon batter into a paper-lined cupcake baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then place on cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.


Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Joy the Baker

2 1/3 c. powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
scant 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Beat powdered sugar, cinnamon and butter together in bowl. Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed. Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium-high until incorporated. Turn mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until frosting becomes light and fluffy. (Do not over-beat! The frosting can quickly become runny.)

12 Days of Christmas Cookies! Day 9 and 10-Double Whammy

Well, I finally made it home for break yesterday. It's so nice to be done with homework, b.s. classes, and work for the next few weeks. Today, I'm bringing two recipes. The first one is not much of a recipe, in fact, you only need two ingredients. White chocolate-dipped Oreos ("Dressed-Up Oreos"). Super simple, but somewhat fancy and something you can get really creative with. The second recipe is killer. It's cookie in dip form. Let me say that again, "A COOKIE IN DIP FORM." Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip. Oh, goodness, this could give your waistline problems. ;) Jessica over at How Sweet It Is, knows what's up. Tunes for the day are Frank Sinatra with I'll Be Home for Christmas (cause I finally am!) and Bill Nighy (Billy Mack from Love Actually) with Christmas Is All Around (cause he's hilarious and I love this movie).


White Chocolate-Dipped Oreos

1 pkg. almond bark/melting white chocolate
1 pkg. Oreos
Sprinkles (optional)


Melt bark according to package. With tongs (or fingers) dip half of Oreo in chocolate and lay on wax-covered cookie sheet to dry. If you wish to decorate with sprinkles or crushed up Oreos, immediately decorate cookie after dipping.

My "helper" who almost took off with the plate.

See what I mean about getting creative?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
adapted from How Sweet It Is

1/2 c. butter
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chips

"Hey, Nate. Come eat something for me."

Why, yes, that is a chocolate chip cookie he is using.

Clearly, he doesn't want to. Oh, the agony.

Poor brother.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to bubble. Set aside to cool and whisk in vanilla.
Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. With mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar/butter mixture, mixing until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for about 1-2 hours. Garnish with chocolate chips. Serve with fruit, cookies, crackers, pretzels, whatever sounds good!