Petits Fours Cupcakes

by penji1

Our friend and neighbor Kali is getting married in August and so these are for her wedding shower this afternoon.  The recipe/instructions come from the cookbook “Hello, Cupcake!” by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.  I used a “Funfetti” cake mix and baked the cupcakes per the instructions on the box in mini muffin pans and ended up with almost 6 dozen mini cupcakes then I followed their instructions for the decorating.

25 mini vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners

1 (16 oz) can vanilla frosting (we used 2 cans since we had so many cupcakes)

red, yellow, purple, neon green and blue food coloring (we went with yellow, teal, pink and purple)

1  Spoon 1/4 cup vanilla frosting into a ziploc bag, press out excess air and seal.  Divide remaining frosting into 5 small microwavable bowls.  Tint each bowl a different pastel color with food coloring.  Cover frostings until ready to use to prevent them from drying out.

2  Line cookie sheet with wax paper.  Working with 1 bowl of frosting at a time, heat in microwave, stirring frequently, until it is the texture of lightly whipped cream, 4 – 5 seconds.  (In order to get the frosting smooth and dippable, we had to microwave about 10 – 15 seconds.)

3  Holding a cupcake by its paper liner, dip it into frosting just up to edge of liner, 5 cupcakes of each color.  After dipping, hold cupcake above surface and allow excess frosting to drip back into bowl.  Carefully invert cupcake and place on cookie sheet.  If frosting becomes too thick, microwave for several seconds, stirring frequently.

4  Snip a 1/16″ corner from bag with vanilla frosting.  Pipe small decorations on each cupcake, using same decorations on each set of colors (keep decorations minimal for more sophisticated look).

5  Arrange cupcakes on serving platter in 5 rows of 5 cupcakes.

Chinese Chicken Salad

by penji1

I got this recipe a long time ago from my neighbor Karin and we used to eat it so often when the kids were little that we all got kind of sick of it so it’s been awhile since I’ve made it but when we got the cabbage in the Bountiful Basket, I knew it was time to make it again.  This is about the only way that I’ll eat Ramen Noodles!  🙂

Combine the following in a large bowl:

1 small head cabbage, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken (I used a can of Costco chicken)

1 cup toasted, slivered almonds

2 packs Ramen pork noodles, crushed into small pieces (I used chicken flavored instead)

Whisk together for sauce:

1/3 cup oil

3 tablespoons vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 Ramen pork (or chicken) flavor packets

Toss with cabbage mixture and refrigerate 24 hours before serving.

Bountiful Basket #5

by penji1

Here’s what we got in today’s Bountiful Basket for $15:

4 peaches

5 plums

6 bananas

1 cantaloupe

1 bunch green grapes

1 bag green beans

3 tomatoes (Bob and I got 2 extra tomatoes for going and volunteering this morning)

1 eggplant

1 head green cabbage

2 bunches green leaf lettuce (also got an extra head of lettuce for volunteering)

5 pounds potatoes

We also added on the Mexican pack (for an additional $7) which looked like this:

and contained:

2 onions

1 bunch garlic

6 limes

2 avacadoes

1 bunch cilantro

1 bunch green onions

10 tomatillos

7 jalapenos

3 Anaheim peppers

3 Pasilla peppers

2 Mexican squash (look like zucchinis)

I’ve already made Chinese Chicken Salad with the cabbage and green onions and Bob just printed off a recipe for “Tomatillo Salasa Verde” which will use the tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro and peppers (the recipe calls for serrano but we’ll sub in 1 of the other kinds that we got).  Curious about Bountiful Baskets?  Go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org and check it out!

Quesadilla Cups with Nectarine Salsa

by penji1

My niece Heidi and her husband Mark are visiting this weekend on their way to California so it’s the perfect opportunity to try out some new recipes on them!  I made the Mango Confetti Salsa and White Sweet Potato Chips yesterday and today I made these which were so very tasty, such a great combination of flavors and not too spicy for me!  It’s a Pampered Chef recipe which was really easy to make.

4 oz Chihuahua or Monterey Jack cheese (I used cheddar)

3 (6″) flour tortillas (I used 8″ and they worked just fine)

2 teaspoons oil (I used olive)

1 medium firm, ripe nectarine

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry (I had some trouble finding these in the store so I’ll just let you know that they are in the aisle with the pickles and olives and they come in a jar but you’re probably smarter than me and already knew that!)

1 serrano pepper, seeded

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro (I cannot stand cilantro so left it out)

1 lime

1/4 teaspoon salt

1  Preheat oven to 400.  Cut cheese into 24 1/2″ cubes.  (I used shredded instead.)  Brush both sides of tortillas with oil.  Stack tortillas and cut into 8 wedges with pizza cutter for a total of 24 wedges.  Press tortillas into cups of mini muffin pan using mini tart shaper.  Place 1 cheese cube (or small pinch of shredded) into each cup.  Bake 5 – 7 minutes or until edges of tortillas begin to brown and cheese is melted.

2  Meanwhile, for salsa, dice nectarine and roasted pepper.  Finely chop serrano pepper, onion and cilantro.  Juice lime to measure 1 tablespoon.  Combine nectarine, peppers, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt in bowl and mix well.  (I put everything in my manual food processor and chopped it all that way.)

3  Remove pan from oven and allow cups to cool in pan 2 – 3 minutes.  Carefully remove cups from pan to serving platter.  Divide salsa evenly among cups.  Sprinkle with additional finely chopped cilantro if desired.

Yields 24 cups, 2 cups = 1 serving, 70 calories per serving

Oven Baked Potato Chips

by penji1

Here is an excellent way to use some of those white sweet potatoes in today’s Bountiful Basket.  This recipe is for regular potatoes but the white sweet potatoes tasted so good!  I found this recipe on another blog http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com.

1 potato (I used about 4 of the sweet potatoes which covered about 2 baking sheets and that was enough for the 4 of us)

vegetable oil for spraying (I used olive oil)

sea salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Slice potatoes with mandolin to get slices the same size.  Lay out potato slices on a baking sheet.  Spray potatoes with oil on each side (I used a kitchen brush and brushed the olive oil on the baking sheet before I put the potatoes on it and then used the brush to lightly brush each potato piece with the olive oil) and sprinkle lightly with salt (a salt grinder works great here if you have one).  Bake for 10 – 20 minutes, monitoring the chips frequently to make sure they don’t burn (you do want them to be brown but not black so that they are crunchy).  If you want, you can flip the chips halfway through baking.

Taste of the Valley 2011

by penji1

We (we being Bob my husband, Zach my son, Courtney my daughter, Heidi my niece and Mark her husband) just got back from the Taste of the Valley at The Shops at Riverwoods and it was awesome!  For $10 you purchased a wrist band and punch card and then could go to any of 44 different vendors (mostly food) and get a sample.  We were there for about 1 1/2 hours, didn’t even get to half of the booths but were so stuffed that we had to leave.  The event started at 11:00 and goes until 3:00 so if you live near me and are reading this post now, then you can still make it there before it ends!  Here is one example of a “sample” at the event from a restaurant called “Cafe Paesan”:

It’s lasagna (which they only serve on Fridays and Saturdays) and a salad which was some kind of Thai Pork Salad and a Wild Berry Tiramisu (which was delicious!).  Pretty big sample!  We also tried Tucanos, California Pizza Kitchen, Coneys, Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point, Malawis Pizza and Goodwood Barbeque (which was also almost a full meal with pasta and potato salads, baked beans,  a meatball and pulled pork).  All of them were delicious!  Here’s another pic of what we came home with:

Chocolate covered fruit from Edible Arrangements, red velvet cupcake from Cupcake Chic and penuche pecan fudge and vanilla peanut butter fudge from The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!

Here’s what we didn’t even get to try:  PF Changs, Crio Bru, Brown Brothers Catering, Melanie’s, Dream Dinners, Daily Bread, Gloria’s Little Italy, Rubios, Los 3 Amigos, Marley’s, Pepsi, La Jolla Groves (bummed about missing that one!), Main Event, Noodles and Company and Pier Cafe.  There were other booths for non food vendors as well.  It was awesome but I wish they’d do it more than once a year!

Bountiful Basket #4

by penji1

Here’s what the Bountiful Basket contained today:

1 pound strawberries

1 cantaloupe

6 peaches

6 plums

3 mangos

7 bananas

10 oz snacking tom toms

1 head Romaine

1 bunch celery

2 English cucumbers

1 bag green beans

11 yams

So excited to try the new stuff this week!  If you are interested in finding out more, go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org and all this could be yours for $15 every Saturday!

 

Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes

by penji1

This is a recipe from my new cookbook (new to me anyway) which I got from http://www.paperbackswap.com (swap books for just the cost of postage, check it out) called “Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor” by Anne Byrn.  They were a thank you for Courtney’s friend Kindra and her dad who took Courtney with them the last few days to Zions National Park to hike the Narrows.  Cort had a blast and wanted to thank them.  We asked Kindra what her dad’s favorite cookie was and she said Snickerdoodle so we decided to do a Snickerdoodle type cupcake.  So here’s the cupcake recipe below. You can find the frosting recipe under “Vanilla Buttercream Frosting” on the blog and for these cupcakes I did 1 teaspoon cinnamon extract and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in the frosting and then I topped them with Pampered Chef Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkles.

1 (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix

1 1/4 cups whole milk

3/4 cup oil

3 eggs

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 Preheat oven to 350 (325 for dark pans).  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2  Beat cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs and cinnamon on low for 30 seconds, scrape down bowl if needed, then beat on medium for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes.  The batter should look thick and well combined.  Scoop batter into each lined muffin cup, filling 3/4 full.

3  Bake cupcakes until they are golden and spring back when touched lightly, 18 – 22 minutes.  Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing.

Sunny Broccoli Pasta Salad

by penji1

This is a Pillsbury recipe from http://www.pillsbury.com.  It’s just like regular broccoli salad with pasta added, tasty!  Gotta use up that broccoli and cauliflower from the Bountiful Basket.

dressing:

1/2 cup light mayonnaise or salad dressing

1/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

salad:

5 oz (1 1/2 cups) uncooked pasta (radiatore) (I used rotini)

8 slices bacon

2 cups small broccoli florets

1 cup small cauliflower florets

1/4 cup red onion

1/4 cup golden raisins (left these out)

3 tablespoons shelled sunflower seeds

1  In small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and blend with whisk until smooth.  Refrigerate while preparing rest of salad.

2  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.

3  Cook bacon until crisp.  Drain on paper towels and then crumble.

4  In large bowl, combine all salad ingredients.  Pour dressing over salad and toss gently to coat.  Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes to blend flavors.

Dulce de Leche Fillo Cups

by penji1

These were for a thank you open house tonight for some members of our church who had been serving in our Bishopric and were recently released.  They couldn’t have been any easier to make but I can’t tell you how they tasted because I didn’t try one before I took them over there and when we finally got back over to the church, they were all gone so I’m guessing they must have been good!  The recipe came in an email from “Eat Better America” which comes from General Mills.

2 oz fat free cream cheese or 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons dulce de leche (caramel) syrup (I didn’t have any so I used caramel ice cream topping)

1 tablespoon reduced fat sour cream

1 (2.1 oz) package frozen mini fillo shells (15 shells)  (I found these at Target)

1/3 cup sliced fresh strawberries

2 tablespoons diced mango (I used fresh blueberries and blackberries instead)

1  In medium bowl, beat cream cheese on low until creamy.  Beat in dulce de leche syrup and sour cream until blended.

2  Spoon mixture into each fillo shell and top with fruit.  (I drizzled additional caramel ice cream topping over the top of each cup for an extra taste of caramel.)

2 cups = 60 calories