What do you do when you have a meeting or a party to go to and you have to bring something to eat?  Do you go sweet or savory?  Do you go grand or understated?  Whatever you do – go big or go home.  By big, I mean big flavor.

My issue was compounded due to the fact that my get together was with a bunch of foodies.  While you might think another foodie wouldn’t have a problem deciding what to bring to a foodie gather, but you would be wrong.  The pressure was staggering!  Okay, I may be exaggerating just a bit – okay a lot.  I thought that most people would go the sweet route, so I decided that savory was the way to go.  That and the fact that I’m trying to get ready to go out of town, made me also go for E-A-S-Y.  Oh, and if you were wondering where my story of Craig is, he was already out of town so I had to hold down the fort by myself (another reason for easy).

Appearances can be deceiving.  These cookies look like those adorable little Walker’s shortbread cookies or those discs made by those sweet little elves that live in trees.  While they may be little, they are not sweet.  They get their savory kick from Parmesan cheese a topping of more cheese and black smoked salt.  I got the original recipe from an old Bon Appetit magazine, but I’ve really changed it up.  (Shocking, I didn’t leave a recipe alone.)

Along the lines of full disclosure I have to give mad props to the photographer on this one.  Patti, over at Worth the Whisk took this shot for me.  I didn’t bring my camera.  So thank you Patti!  BTW, she’s got some great recipes over there too.

Relationship Advice

Spice things up at home too.  I know that I just talked about going out on weekly dates.  But instead of going your regular route: a movie, dinner, a play, don’t tell you significant other what this nights date is.  Have them meet you somewhere then walk together to an art gallery, a wine bar, or a hot new club.  The idea is to just get in the mindset of doing something different every once in a while.  They say variety is the spice of life and that doesn’t just pertain to food.  It also pertains to things that you do or places that you go together.

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (plus more for topping cookies)
• 1/2 Cup Finely Ground Toasted Walnuts
• 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Fennel (or fennel pollen)
• 1 Cup Butter Cubed (2 sticks)
• Black Hawaiian Smoked Salt (or large crystal smoked salt)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper (these cookies are pretty delicate when they come out of the oven, the paper helps when removing them from the baking sheets).

Mix flour, Parmesan cheese, fennel and walnuts into bowl of food processor.

Add butter, in small pieces, and pulse on and off until dough starts to come together.

Bring the dough together to form a ball.  Divide the ball in half and roll into 2 12″ logs.  Roll each log in plastic wrap or wax paper and chill for 1 hour.

Remove dough from refrigerator and break into pieces and form balls.

Arrange balls on lined baking sheet about 1 1/2″ apart.  Flatten each ball into a 2″ circle.

Sprinkle tops of shortbread cookies with Parmesan cheese and smoked salt.

Bake shortbread until tops are dry and edges begin to turn golden brown (20-30 minutes).

Remove cookies from baking sheet and cool on racks.

Technorati Tags: Appetizer Recipes, Baked Goods, Easy Cooking, Easy Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

With the mother in law coming to town I had to think fast.  What could I make (dessert) that she would like and not be allergic to (that’s another story all together)?  I came across a recipe for something called Gingerbread Pudding Cake and thought, with a few lot of adjustments, this could be it.  But am I really going to make a cake from scratch?

What I came up with is quite simply what we like to call – food porn.  Like porn, this cake isn’t necessarily the prettiest thing to look at.  It’s easy. It’s kind of puffy in the middle and has a few cracks in its surface.  It’s got somewhat sloppy nuts but with a little makeup (whipped cream) you can certainly take it out in public (even to meet mom).  And, as you savor that first mouthful you’ll hear it scream with Fall flavors.

I would not say that this cake has a pudding consistency to it, although it is a very moist cake. It has a rich caramel sauce that oozes out of it when you first cut into it.  (The cake needs to be warm for maximum caramel output.)  The Fall flavors are inescapable: honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

Relationship Advice

It pays off to exceed people’s expectations.  Doing the unexpected, positive unexpected things, allows someone to see you in a different light.  These seemingly little things do not go unnoticed.  And in a case where you may be trying to get your significant others friends or family to see you in a more favorable light, little unexpected positive things can make all the difference in the world.

For the record…my mother in law hasn’t been able to stay out of the cake!  I think she and Craig are going to have a brawl over who gets the last piece.  Making a cake from scratch actually paid off this time.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Five Spice Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/8 Teaspoon Ginger
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 1/2 Cup White Wine (a light wine like Pinot Grigio)
• 1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
• 1 1/2 Cups Water
• 5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (cut into pieces)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Butter and 8″x8″ glass baking dish.

Whisk flour, baking soda, five spice powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup sugar until it is pale yellow in color.  Add egg and beat thoroughly.

Combine honey and wine into a bowl and stir to completely combine.

Add flour and wine mixture to butter mixture alternating between the two and making sure that each is combined before adding the other.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle sliced almonds evenly on top of mixture.  Cover almonds evenly with brown sugar.

Melt 5 tablespoons of butter into 1 1/2 cups of water.  Carefully pour onto top of brown sugar.  (There will be a lot of liquid on top of the batter.)

Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean – approximately 45 minutes.

Let rest for 15-20 minutes and serve with whipped cream.

Technorati Tags: Baked Goods, Dessert, dessert recipes, Easy Cooking, easy dessert recipes, Easy Recipes, Food Porn

This is sheer madness, I know.  But what was I supposed to do?  While I was trying to clean out the refrigerator (I have to do this once a year whether I want to or not) I found some of the most disgusting things.  It’s amazing what creepiness grows in those cold boxes.  Anyway…while I was tossing out one science experiment after another, I ran across some sticky bottles of jelly and syrups.  You know, the one’s you see in a store and think “oh how cool is this – I’ll definitely use this” only come face to face with reality and you’ve used it once and it has taken up permanent residence in the back corner of the refrigerator (because it’s stuck to the shelf by the same kind of sticky substance NASA uses to glue those space shuttle tiles on with).

After throwing out numerous bottles and jars, and putting a few back (I swear I’ll use them for something) I turned around and found that I had this sad little plastic bottle of pancake syrup still sitting on the counter.  I took this as a sign that I should cook something with it.  Plus it was really sticky and I didn’t feel like cleaning it up and putting it back in the refrigerator.

I could have made pancakes for dinner, Craig would have loved that, but I thought that would be too easy…too obvious.  I was kind of thinking about cookies.  But I was also thinking about bacon (because I was already braising some for another dish that you will be seeing very soon).  Then I was trying to come up with something to marry these two soul mates with and I came up with cheese.  Yeah, I didn’t get it either at the time but sometimes I just have to run with my weird thoughts.  And this time it worked for the better.

I have a serious weakness for shortbread, so that’s how I determined what type of cookie this was going to be.  But trust me, this cookie is really easy to make.  I will admit that it is a little confused in that it doesn’t know if it is a breakfast food, a dessert or something to be passed as an appetizer in between the cheese plate and the olives.  But I think that just gives you lots of options…and excuses to make these.

Words of Wisdom

Cleaning sucks!  But cleaning out the refrigerator is one of life’s little curses.  Unfortunately, it has to be done so here are a couple of ways to really make it work in your favor.

By the time you get done throwing everything out (because the expiration dates are long past due) you’ll see that you have nothing to eat so you can go out and buy all of those healthy foods you keep swearing you are going to start buying.

If you time the cleaning just right, you won’t have anything left in your refrigerator to cook for dinner, and no time to start anything even if there is something left in there.  So you both will have to go out to eat if you plan on being nourished for the evening.

Makes 24 Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour (plus additional for dusting)
• 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese + 1 Tablespoon Parmesan Cheese (separated)
• 1 Cup Chilled Unsalted Butter (cut into 1/2″ x 1″ pieces)
• 3/4 Cup Maple Flavored Pancake Syrup
• 1 Tablespoon Crumbled Bacon (cook 1-2 strips of bacon and crumble in food processor or chop by hand)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In food processor, blend flour and parmesan cheese.

Add butter to flour and cheese mixture by pulsing blade.  Keep pulsing until dough starts to come together.  Add maple syrup, through feed tube, while pulsing.

Lightly flour work surface.

Turn dough out onto work surface and form a loose ball.

Divide dough in 1/2 and roll each half into a log.  Cut log into 12 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and place on lined baking sheet, space 1″-2″ apart. (You may have to lightly dust your hands with some flour to keep dough from sticking to you – use the flour sparingly.)

Flatten each ball into a 2″ round.

In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese with 1 tablespoon crumbled bacon.  Sprinkle on top of each cookie.

Bake cookies for 20-25 minutes.  Tops should be dry and edges golden.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely, then store in a covered container.

Technorati Tags: Bacon, Baked Goods, Cheese, dessert recipes, Easy Cooking, Easy Recipes, shortbread cookies

Mmmmmm…cinnamon rolls.  Fresh, hot cinnamon rolls are one of those few things that you can make that get you drooling from their smell as as much as they do from their taste (chocolate chip cookies being the other one).

However, unlike the aforementioned cookies, cinnamon rolls usually require you to plan ahead in order make the dough, let it rise, then finally bake them – ugh!  Who has time for that?  I’ll admit, that when I am in one of my “happy homemaker modes” (which doesn’t happen that often) I have been known to bust out the stand mixer and yeast to make overnight cinnamon rolls.

If you like cinnamon rolls, you’re really going to like these because you don’t have to make the dough – that part has already been done for you.  The dough is a tube of Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits.  The only parts you have to make are the filling and the glaze.  Then you can sit back and take all the credit for suffering over making a yeast dough and all the time it took to make and rise then roll it out.  For added drama, you could smear a little flour on your face or on your clothes.

Words of Wisdom

These cinnamon rolls are perfect for either 1 – a breakfast the morning after the first time he spends the night at your place or 2 – if one of his relatives or good friends (if you don’t like his friend that spent the night, don’t make him breakfast – go out for food) stays over.  You will get loads of kudos for spending the time to make homemade cinnamon rolls in the morning.

The beautiful thing with these rolls is that you actually get to use dough from a can, but because they aren’t those perfectly round pinwheels of brown sugar and cinnamon with the thick and gloppy glaze that you get from a can of cinnamon rolls, no one will ever know that they were almost as easy to make.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 7.5 Ounce Can Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuit Dough
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (1 Tbl melted & 1 Tbl solid)
• 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/8 Cup Cream Cheese
• 1 Tablespoon Orange Juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
• 1 Tablespoon Milk
• Flour
• Orange Zest (from 1 orange)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Lightly grease and 8″x8″ baking pan with butter and set aside.

In a bowl mix brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter.  Mix thoroughly and set aside.

In another bowl mix powdered sugar, cream cheese, orange juice and milk.  Mix to combine. Try to eliminate as many lumps as possible.

Separate the biscuits.  Lightly flour work surface and roll out the biscuits to 1/8″ thickness.  (Shape should be slightly oval to rectangular)  Use a sharp knife to slice dough in half lengthwise.  Cover dough with generous tablespoon of brown sugar cinnamon mixture.  Starting with one corner from the long end, snugly roll the dough and pinch the remaining corner to seal the roll.  Place into buttered baking pan and space 1/4″ apart.

Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes.  After 25 minutes, start watching tops of rolls.  The tops should turn a nice golden brown and the sugar and cinnamon should be mostly melted.

Remove pan from oven and drizzle with powdered sugar orange glaze.  Top with grated orange zest.

Let rolls sit for 15 minutes to cool a bit and make it easier to serve.

Technorati Tags: Baked Goods, Breakfast Recipes, Cinnamon Roll Recipes, Easy Cooking, Easy Recipes, homemade cinnamon rolls, Semi-Homemade

Hmmmm…..a bowl of bruised up nasty looking bananas one day away from the grand opening of a fruit fly carnival…what to do?  What to do?  Banana bread!

The husband is on a pseudo health kick right now.  I say pseudo because he thinks if there is a full fruit bowl in the house, that he can walk by and look at, and he’s being healthy.  Notice that nowhere in that sentence did I say anything about him eating said fruit.  He looks at it every morning when he’s pouring his coffee and every evening as he makes the brain cramping decision of whether to have a bowl of ice cream or inhale half a bag of potato chips.  Of course, being a guy, he can do these kinds of things without looking like a horse after a couple of days.  I am not that fortunate…I am the one who eats the fruit.

So the other day he’s complaining to me about the “gnarly looking bananas” in the fruit bowl.  The reality hits him pretty hard that real bowls of fruit don’t always look like a still life by Paul Cezanne.

So this is how I made the “gnarly looking bananas” disappear and turn into that night’s dessert: Banana Bread.

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 5 Tablespoons (1/3 cup) Unsalted Butter at Room Temperature
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 Ripe Bananas (aka gnarly looking bananas)
• 2 Tablespoons Milk
• 1 3/4  Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 – 1/2 Cup Chopped Nuts (walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts work best)
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Technorati Tags: Baked Goods, Baking, Banana Bread Recipe, Bread, Easy Recipes