Chicken Wontons

So this is one of those rare posts that's real food, not just baking! I saw this recipe and it looked fun and delicious. I have never fried something before, and it went pretty well (I only set the fire alarm off once!) They did burn a bit, but I'll remember for next time that the oil doesn't need to be quite so hot.

Frying was pretty easy! I just shredded some chicken with buffalo barbecue sauce and then mixed it together with some black beans and wrapped them in wonton skins. I have still to perfect a way of dropping something into hot oil without splashing myself, but hopefully I'll learn someday!

Interlude: new decal!

I got a new London laptop decal and I think it's pretty awesome!

I kept the snitch from my last decal if you are wondering what those wings are!

Butterscotch Blondies

With session b beginning soon and the thought of actually having to study, I have planned out a couple of baking ventures just in case I don't have time later. First up was a pan of blondies! I decided to make these semi-homemade by using store bought butterscotch sauce instead of making my own. But, you really can't tell and they are amazing. I cut them into small pieces so that when I happen to eat multiple a day it won't be as bad.. that works right?

recipe: notwithoutsalt

Monkey Bread Muffins

This summer is becoming less of the lay around and do literally nothing type of summer and has slowly transitioned into waking up at 6:30 every morning and being in bed by 9. Fun, right? After taking my obligatory nap after work, I tried to convince myself that my house didn't need any more baked goods as the chocolate chip cookies were still around, but I failed in that. After seeing that I had all the ingredients, and it looked easy enough, this monkey bread recipe had to be made. It turned out to be a bit messier than I had anticipated...

and I had to improvise a bit but they turned out good enough! Delicious, actually...

recipe: ericasweettooth

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think it's safe to say that everyone likes chocolate chip cookies. But the problem with making these cookies is that everyone has a preference: some like them crispy while others like them chewy or gooey. For me, I like the softer variety but have never quite found the perfect recipe. Today I found a recipe that included instant pudding mix, which intrigued me. So of course I had to give it a try and the results were amazing! The pudding mix made the cookies soo soft and I'm pretty sure I have found my staple chocolate chip recipe!

Stay tuned because I have some vanilla bean and extra white chocolate I plan on trying to use some time this week!

recipe: confessionsofacookbookqueen

Real Time: Butterbeer Cupcakes

So I have finally finished updating all my backlogged photographs! These cupcakes were actually made on the day of posting: July 21, 2011.
Anyone who has ever met me knows that I LOVE Harry Potter. Pretty much anything to do with it, and I will love it. After my life ended with the release of the last movie (still in denial that it's over!), I wasn't quite sure what I would do with myself. Luckily, I ran into some recipe blogs that have been using Harry Potter as inspiration. These butterbeer cupcakes sounded like heaven, so I bookmarked the recipe for a good day. For those who don't know, butterbeer is a delicious drink that the kids of Hogwarts always drink when they take trips to Hogsmeade!
With two friends coming over for the weekend, and my decision to FINALLY make this blog, I thought they would be a good thing to make! They call for some odd ingredients, so after gathering everything I would need, I set out to make them.

 I used my makeshift double boiler to make the butterscotch ganache..

 But my lack of squeeze bottle did seem to be a problem (the butterscotch is supposed to be in IN the cupcakes, not outside and all over the place).

But, in the end they turned out GREAT! I wasn't sure I was going to like them as the frosting was SO butterscotch, but the cream soda tasting cake balanced it out perfectly. I definitely recommend these cupcakes and I can't wait to taste real butterbeer when I finally make it to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

recipe: amybites

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I had some blueberries that were going to go bad soon so I decided they must be baked into something! I found this recipe for lemon blueberry muffins and they turned out amazing. I didn't add as much sugar into the icing as it called for, so the icing ended up just soaking into the top layer of the muffin like a liquid. It gave the top of the blueberry muffin a nice crispy, tangy, and sugary layer. Amazing. Once again, gone the next day. This seems to be a trend...

note to self: get a strainer. This makeshift "strainer" didn't work as well as I'd hoped when I had to juice the lemons.

recipe: ericasweettooth

Cinnamon Pinwheels

Since baking has become a normal occurence in our apartment, one day when Leigh and I had nothing to do (like normal) we decided to whip up something easy! We found a recipe for cinnamon pinwheel muffins that used Bisquick, which is something easily on hand. Within 10 minutes (and without a rolling pin once again) we had them in the oven. They made the house smell AMAZING and were super easy. We improvised on the icing and it turned out great! When I came home the next day, they were all gone. At least I got two of them?

recipe: buddingbaketress

Cookie Bottomed Cupcakes

A cookie and a cupcake? Sounds like my dream. When this recipe popped up, I had to try it. It was late at night and I kind of wanted to go to bed, so they should have been left in the oven a bit longer, but oh well! They were delicious anyway and I can always make them again, right?

I mentioned my quest for a great frosting in an earlier post and I think I found it! I literally did a google search for "best vanilla frosting" and found multiple posts for this recipe, so I decided to give it a try. And it was AMAZING! Not too buttery and extra creamy. I will definitely have to keep this one bookmarked!

cupcakes: howsweeteats
frosting: tastykitchen

Sugar Cookies

So before I ate the rest of the strawberry frosting, I decided to make another vehicle for them, so I made a basic sugar cookie so that I could frost them. I realized after I made all the dough that I did not have a rolling pin.

I tried to roll it out with my hands.. but it clearly did not work that well.

So we ended up scraping the dough off of the counter and just rolling it into shapes, most of which were just circles (creative, I know).

The next morning, there were only like five left. Once again, a good sign.

recipe: daintychef-krissy

Strawberry and Champagne Cupcakes

So, with lots of time on my hands, I was thinking of things to make for some of my friends! A bunch of my friends were moving into their new houses a week after I had moved in, so I decided to bake them a housewarming treat! I had seen this recipe for champagne cupcakes, which I thought could be delicious! It had a champange buttercream, but while I've been baking I have discovered that I'm not a huge fan of buttercreams. They're a bit too rich for me so I didn't want to use the frosting in this recipe. I thought it would be cute to do a strawberry frosting, so I went on a search for a good strawberry frosting. I found one that was a whipped cream, which I thought I would try. I have to say, it was AMAZING. I ended up saving the rest, freezing it and eating it like ice cream. whoops?

I wanted to make them extra cute (why not?) so I added a strawberry slice to the top. Definitely my prettiest cupcakes to date!

cupcakes: somekitchenstories
frosting: cupcakeproject

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I always forget that buying groceries for one person is muchh different than buying groceries for a family of four. So, as usual, I had some pretty brown bananas on the counter pretty soon after moving in. But, my mother always said that these are the best for baking, so I of course made some muffins! Banana chocolate chip muffins remind me of freshman year because that was the only thing my dining common did right. But they were yummy and gone pretty soon after I made them- success!

recipe: howto-simplify

Fourth of July Fail

Lauren was still staying with me during Fourth of July and after being woken up at 8 AM by my neighbors blasting their country music, we had to get up earlier than planned. So we made a big breakfast! After deciding to make eggs and pancakes, we got the brilliant(ly stupid) idea to try to make them red and blue...

and of course, it turned out green and pink. What, you didn't know that these are America's real colors? It looks gross but they were really good and a great start to a great day :]

Snickerdoodles

After a couple weeks at home for summer, I finally got to move into my new apartment in Isla Vista!

I am in lovee with my view (yes, I made it into my banner)! Waking up to the ocean waves and this view is prettyyyy rough. So I had to christen my new kitchen (complete with the kitchen aid taken from my house, sorry Mom!) with something delicious! I had my friend Lauren over for about a week because she was homeless, so we decided to make snickerdoodles!

and because she is a loser (jk) we made a nice fleur de lis cookie to represent some kappa, which sort of turned out? But they honestly were really good and light! A good first baking experience on Del Playa :]

recipe: howsweeteats

Vanilla Macaroons

While I was abroad this past fall, I had the opportunity to travel to Paris with a couple of friends and of course made a trip to Laduree, an AMAZING macaroon shop. I had never had the pleasure of having a macaroon before and I fell in love. They were soo good and light and I could have eaten a million of them!

So these are obviously more expert and pretty than mine could everr be, but I had to try! Macaroons are notoriously hard to make (I only messed up and had to start over once!), but it worked! You have to let your egg whites sit out for over 24 hours (which made my screw up all that much more frustrating) and be super careful with your ingredients or the shells do not turn out right.

then you have to pipe them onto your parchment paper and wait for the outside to dry...

then bake them.. these are not as white as they should be because I left them in the oven for about 30 seconds too long..

then I piped in the buttercream after matching up the same size shells, but after all that work..

I had homemade vanilla macaroons :] I was really proud of these little babies and definitely want to try them again but maybe with a fruit flavor!




recipe: cakejournal