Just for fun

Hello! Just for fun I have to share some pictures of my latest creation. Our pastor and his wife had a baby recently, so I "whipped up" some cute cupcakes to share with his family. They took awhile to decorate, but I think they turned out quite cute!! :)


I have just a quick and easy recipe to share with you today. Aaron's mom & dad are here for the weekend, so I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and it is such a simple recipe!

2 cups baking/biscuit mix
3/4 cup sugar (plus extra for sprinkling on top)
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries

Mix together the baking mix and sugar in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine eggs and sour cream. Pour sour cream mixture into dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Voila! That's it. Almost as easy as a the prepared bags of muffin mix! :)

Well, we're off to Sioux Falls today with Mike and Sharon. We're going to do a little shopping and eat at Bracco tonight! I absolutely LOVE Bracco! It is such a neat restaurant and they have fun drinks and great food! It is classified as a "world cafe and Island bar"... so they have every kind of food and fun island drinks!! :) I'll have to share some pictures with you after tonight. Hopefully I can take some good ones (I hate taking my camera out in public cuz people think you're crazy, so I try to hide it) Anyways, hope you have a good weekend!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hi again! You must be hungry to come and visit this blog! And today, if you have a chocolate craving, you're about to get satisfied! :) These double chocolate chip muffins are very moist, thanks to the ricotta cheese. Yes, ricotta cheese in muffins! It works!

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 eggs
1 1/3 cup milk

1 Tbsp vanilla

4 Tbsp butter, melted

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 16 muffin cups with cooking spray or paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk ricotta cheese and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk, vanilla, and cooled butter, mixing well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cocoa. Add the ricotta mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, remove and cool.

Muffins Muffins Muffins!

Ok, this past weekend I was in a baking mood... so this week I have 3 muffin recipes to share! I will start out with one of the "unique" flavors I tried. They are called Cheesecake Coffee Cake Muffins, and take a little bit of labor, but they are sooooo yummy warm and fresh!

Cheesecake filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp butter, softened

1 egg yolk

3 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Streusel topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

6 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 16 muffin cups with cooking spray or paper liners. First, prepare the cheesecake filling. Cream together cream cheese and butter until light and smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated, then set aside.

Next, combine streusel ingredients- flour, sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or forks, add the butter pieces and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Now we're ready for the muffins!! :) Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Cream shortening and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between. Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup. Alternately add 1/3 of the flour mixture, and 1/2 of the milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour, beating on low speed until just incorporated. Use a spoon and tranfer batter to muffin cups, filling each cup 1/2 full. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven.

Add a spoonful of cream cheese filling to each muffin, pressing lightly with back of spoon. Top each with streusel topping, filling each muffin cup to the top. Bake an additional 14 minutes and remove. Cool about 15 minutes and use a knife to loosen slightly and continue cooling.

Mmmmm!!! They're soooo yummy and gooey! You know you wanna make them!!

Sangria

Wow! My 2nd post in about 1 day! I better not keep this up or you won't have enough time to follow my recipes! :) Haha. But, Sangria is a Mexican drink.... tacos are obviously Mexican... so it goes! And this Sangria is delicious! We had this at a party at my parents and it went quickly! Makes a large batch, so you could cut it in half if you just want a few glasses. I apologize for the picture, it is not my own, but this recipe is posted by popular demand (well, at least 1 person requested it, haha) and I don't have a reason to make this right now, hence no authentic picture.

Party Sangria-
2 cups lemon juice
2 cups orange juice
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brandy
4 cups red wine
4 cups club soda
Ice for serving

Combine lemon juice, orange juice and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add brandy, red wine, and club soda. Serve with ice. You can also garnish with fruit slices as well.

Carne Asada tacos with Pico de Gallo

Ok, here goes! These tacos are one of Aaron's favorite dishes to order at Mexican restaurants, so I tried to re-create the magic! Carne Asada tacos taste authentic and with a little pico they're perfect! Aaron and I both agreed that this recipe does a great job re-creating the "restaurant flavor" of carne asada. We loved 'em!

2 pounds flank or skirt steak (but don't get all worked up, the old frozen steak you have in the freezer will do fine. We used ribeyes we had actually)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Marinade:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 large handful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

Lay the steak in a large bowl or baking dish. Combine the marinade ingredients and pour over the steak. Make sure each piece is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1-4 hours. If you can't plan for 1-4 hours before your meal you can marinade overnight. I did.

Preheat grill over medium-high heat. Spray grates with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Remove the steak from marinade. Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.

Serve with warm tortillas and pico de gallo (recipe follows). To warm tortillas place non stick skillet on warm-low heat. Heat each side of tortilla for 15-30 seconds. Now, we both agree the pico is delicious... but build your taco with carne, pico, a drizzle of jalapeno juice (from canned jalapenos), and a dallop of sour cream--- YUM!

PICO DE GALLO:

1 1/2 pounds plum/Roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeno chiles (about 2 peppers)
1 garlic clove, minced

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill for 1-2 hours.

Welcome

Welcome to my food blog! I have had a lot of fun reading food blogs, and thought it would be fun to start my own! I hope to post at least one recipe weekly for everyone to enjoy, and hopefully a picture to entice you to create the dishes! As my profile says, I have no special training or experience. I am just a food geek, and love to cook! I hope you have fun enjoying food with me! My first blog should be tomorrow... Carne Asada tacos with Pico de Gallo is on the menu!