Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones

Back at the age of 18 when I worked at my first espresso stand, we made a delicious drink called a Mochacino. Basically, it was a mocha with cinnamon and nutmeg. Ever since then, I've loved the combination of cinnamon and chocolate. It's so warm and comforting. I decided I'd give the combo a try in the form of a scone. It works in pancakes, so why not??

Scones:

2 cups flour

2 tbls sugar

1 tbls baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

Mix the dry ingredients in a food processor. This will break up the chocolate chips a little, which works well for the scone. Add the butter and process until crumbly. Combine the milk and eggs. Transfer the dry mixture to a bowl, form a well in the center, and add the milk/egg mixture. Fold in the wet mixture just until everything is moistened.

Divide the dough into 2 halves and form each half into a circle (or whatever works for you). Make sure you work on a floured surface. Cut the dough into triangles of any size, like a pie, and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbls milk

Combine all the ingredients and drizzle over cooled scones.

These were gone in no time and I will definitely be making them again :-)

Banana Coconut Bars

Banana Coconut Bars

This conconction is so simple, there isn't even a recipe. I found a box of vanilla pudding in our snack basket and wanted to do something with it. I decided on the vanilla pie recipe found on the box. So, off I went to make a graham cracker crust. Well, I guess I don't know what a graham cracker is. When the recipe calls for "20" crackers, it really means 20 squares, not 20 rectangles (which would be 2 squares). I know that now...but like I've said before, the crust is the best part, so a double batch makes it doubly declicious. However, it was way too much crust for a 9" pie dish and I ended up having to use a 9 x 11 casserole dish. Well, that was just too big for the amount of pudding I had, so I found myself looking for something to add in. Bananas of course! And how much better do bananas taste with coconut? Enough to justify some toasted yummyness on top, that's for sure. So here's what I did...

A graham cracker crust (cooked and cooled) topped with sliced bananas. Over that I poured the prepared instant vanilla pudding. After I toasted some coconut (twice since I burned it the first time), I sprinkled it on top, put it in the fridge, and enjoyed a yummy treat later! Super easy and delicious!

"LAZY"agna!

It looks like lasagna, it tastes like lasagna, it even strings like lasagna! But the best part??? It takes about a quarter of the time as lasagna! That's right, all the goodness without the grunt work! I have to be honest here, I got the idea from a Rachel Ray episode, but I did make it my own by putting into casserole form and baking it! So, here's how I do it:

First, boil some water and get your pasta going...it's truly this quick!

Bechemal Sauce:

2 tbls butter

2 tbls flour

1 cup milk

minced garlic

salt and pepper

parmesan cheese (or whatever italian cheese you have on hand)

The rest:

spaghetti sauce (jarred or homemade, it's up to you)

mozzarella cheese

You won't need much more than this!
Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the flour. Cook and stir constantly for 4-5 minutes to cook out the flour taste.

Add the milk and garlic. Cook and stir until it starts to thicken.
Add in whatever cheese you like in whatever amount you want. Here I added grated parmesan and this Pecorino Ramono cheese (sheep's milk, but don't tell my kids or me that!) Also season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the cooked pasta. I've used penne, mini penne, some short curly pasta! It's really whatever kind you like.

Pour into a casserole dish. I spray with nonstick cooking spray to make clean up easier. Cover with spaghetti sauce....

Mozzarella cheese....

And bake at 400 until bubbly and golden on top.

You and your kids will LOVE this dish! Seriously, this is what was left after only me and the 3 little ones ate!

Not only will this dish taste great on your table immediately, but it's also a perfect one to prepare and freeze for a later time. Just cover it and freeze it before baking! I love having it on hand for when I want to provide a meal to a friend or family! (Erin, if you are reading this, I had planned on bringing this dish to your baby shower to have in your freezer for after baby came....I'll get it to you somehow!)

I love making a bechamel sauce because once you have the basics, you can dress it up for anything you want. Add onion for more flavor. Add cheddar cheese to make a creamy macaroni, taco seasoning for a mexican casserole, or just plain parmesan for an alfredo. Make it thinner by adding more milk, or thicker by increasing the butter and flour. And, once you get it down, you can make it from memory. This was the first time I didn't consult a recipe and it turned out great.

Good luck...I hope you find a great use for this delicious dish!

In the Zone...the Calzone that is!

When I was in college I worked at a lovely little bakery on Saturday mornings. I had the task of making the sweet rolls, cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones, breads, and sometimes soups and sandwiches. One of my favorite food items I made were the calzones. Strangely, I have never made them since working there, so I finally decided to give it a try on my own! Here's how it went:

First I sauteed some diced onion until it began to look transparent, then I threw about 3 minced garlic cloves on top and continued to cook until I smelled the garlic. I added about 2 lbs of ground beef, some garlic salt and black pepper, and cooked it through. After draining the meat, I threw it in the fridge until I could get back to it. I decided I wanted to try two different fillings, a taco filling and an Italian filling.

Taco:

1 lb ground beef mixture

1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 2.2 ounce can sliced olives, drained

1 tbls cumin

1 tsp each of paprika, chile powder, salt, and garlic salt (it was a bit on the salty side, so I would take out the regular salt next time)

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream if you have it on hand)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Italian:

1 lb ground beef mixture

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 tbls each dried oregano and basil

1 tsp dried thyme

spaghetti sauce (I used jarred, of course!)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix all of the ingredients together until well blended. For the Italian, use as much spaghetti sauce as you need to get the consistency you like. I think I used about a cup, plus a bit more.

For the crust of the calzones, I used a basic pizza dough recipe, but you can use anything from refridgerator pizza crust to a boxed mix. It's really whatever works for you. I like making my own!

Calzone Assembly:

My plan was to make 16 MINI calzones, 8 for dinner and 8 for the freezer, so I made a double batch of pizza crust and divided it in half. With the first half I divided it into 8 mostly equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a circle like shape about a quarter inch thick, just as my handy assistant Megan is doing here:

Add about 1/3 cup filling on one side, but leave an edge, then top with cheese.

I found the easiest way to seal the calzone was to leave about a 1/4 lip of the bottom side after folding it over, then fold that lip up and seal the edges. At this point, you can get decorative if you want and use a fork to crimp the edge or something!

Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes. Did I mention I was going for mini calzones? They ended up being a bitter larger than I expected :-)

And Enjoy! (the left is the Italian, the right is the taco)

I always look for some seal of approval...

Need I say more???

The best thing about calzones is that once you have the dough, you can really do anything you want for a filling! Just make sure it has texture, a little moisture, and lots of flavor! One of the popular ones we would make at the bakery was a chicken broccoli calzone!! Yum Yum!

Little Bit O' Love

We had to spread a little love through the house this year for Valentine's Day, so what better way than with heart shaped cookies?? Here are my lovely children hard at work, rolling out sugar cookie dough!

We managed to get a few decent cookies out of the batch...mostly the little ones just enjoyed playing with the dough! So, if you have a toddler who needs entertaining, mix up some pizza dough and put them to work! I promise, it's very entertaining and easy to clean up!
Megan and her friend Caroline decorated the few that lasted long enough. They did a great job!

And for breakfast? Heart-shaped, chocolate chip pancakes! A very lovely treat indeed!

Hope you all had a Valentine's Day filled with love :-)

Sunday Marinades

So, as I begin to think about spending my days at work rather than at home, I realize that I need to get into the habit of having meals "ready to go". No, I'm not returning to work immediately, but when I do, I need to be prepared! Besides, it's nice to be able to pull meat out of the freezer and not put any thought into what to do with it! Just warm up the grill, sautee some veggies or make a salad, and you're on your way to a healthy, delicioius dinner! It makes it easy and quick and then your attention can go towards other things, like keeping the boy from playing with knives, corraling little girls back to the table with their chairs, and answering the "What if" questions being darted at you from the 6 year old. See, it's good for everyone :-)

This is what I do to ease the Kraziness from time to time:

Bring home the large package of skinless, boneless chicken breasts from Costco, get out my gallon size Ziploc freezer bags, all my ingredients, and get to work. Sometimes I use premade marinades, but lately I've been creating my own. (I'll get back to you when I know how these taste!) I put all of the ingredients for each marinade into a Ziploc, add the chicken which I've either flattened, or sliced into strips, or whatever, zip it up, and throw it in the freezer! It's truly that simple! The nice thing about this method is that the meat has a chance to really soak up all those yummy flavors that go into the marinade!

I have here a soy ginger, orange balsamic, Thai peanut chicken, and a premade Jamaican Jerk that I simply thinned with olive oil. It's so easy and fast and delicious. Good food doesn't have to complicated and a good meal doesn't have to overdone! I like to keep most of my cooking simple and this surely fits the bill :-) Besides, my sidekick does a better job with the grill than I do with the stove! When you live in the Pacific Northwest, you learn to grill in rain, snow, sleet, or hail! It's just the way it is!!

No Worries!

It's okay, don't worry, my family has been eating! I just haven't been inspired to try anything new and exciting! Too busy tending to sick family members! But all is well now and my aunt is coming to town, so we will most likely cook up something tasty to share :-) In fact, let me introduce you to a few people in my life that I like to call my "Go To" people! They are the ones I call when I need advice, encouragement, or just plain ideas for cooking!

Mama Roper: My dear mother, who has fed me from day one! I go to her when I have questions about regular, homecooked meals! We grew up eating well, even though money was tight and there were lots of us to feed. So, when I need to stretch a buck but make it tasty...she's the one! Pot roast, mac and cheese, spaghetti...she's my comfort food Go To!

Gampa (AKA my dad)-Mexican...ya, that's what he does best! So when I'm making something mexican I usually run it by him! Also, he finally shared his secret to homemade taquitos...YUM! It's our Christmas tradition with him and one of these days, I will have to take it over. But for now, I'll stick with his cause they are sooooo tasty!

Aunt Liisa-When I have some crazy idea about mixing ingredients...she's my Go To!! She's been a caterer, an event planner, and an at-home mother to 3. She's taken lots of cooking courses and isn't afraid to "throw something together". Since I'm rather timid in this area, I usually check with her first to see if it will work! She inspires me to branch out...

Robin (AKA second mom)-My mom's bestest friend and like a mom to us, she also does catering and has the ability to create some very yummy dishes. When I can't reach my mom or my aunt, or if I have a question about Italian food, I call her up and she's always happy to share. Robin has provided the food for my wedding, 2 of my sisters' weddings, and now a fourth wedding coming soon. I love eating her creations!

Auntie Biz (one of my younger sisters)-Like me, she simply enjoys cooking and playing with food. We love to work together in the kitchen and talk about Food Network stars like Giada and Bobby Flay. We have a crazy idea about owning our own restaurant someday!! It's fun to dream!!!

I feel very blessed to be sourrounded by such great cooks and if I can become half of what they are, I'll feel lucky!!