St. Patty’s Day Dessert: Cake Bites

5 March, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

The ingredients for these adorable (two) bite-sized lucky charm cakes came from my beloved Joy of Cooking cookbook! I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make them St. Patrick’s Day themed! I took them to my mother-in-law’s for a family dinner she was having. They were a huge hit! Ingredients for Cake: 1 1/2 C flour 1 1/2 tea baking powder 1 C sugar 1/2 tea salt 2 eggs 1 stick of butter, softened  1/2 C milk 1 tea vanilla extract Ingredients for frosting:   8 oz cream cheese (chilled)   1 1/2 C powdered sugar  2 tea vanilla extract  a few drops of green food coloring or green sprinkles Directions for cake: Preheat the oven to 375. Grease two round cake pans well.  Whisk flour, baking power, sugar, and salt together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Divide the batter evenly and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. You will know it is done when a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack inside the pan for about ten minutes (see picture on left above) before removing them. Let the cakes completely cool before making your clovers. Next, cut out those clovers out! I only got four clovers (two per pan) but my heart cookie cutter is pretty large, almost big enough to fit my hand through. I’m sure you could get many more with a smaller heart. You can use the leftovers to make the stem, or skip the stem and add another leaf and make it a lucky four-leaf clover!

My husband had no problem munching on the leftover cake and icing throughout the week after the party! He told me he doesn’t need his cake to look pretty. Ha! Directions for frosting: Combine all ingredients together (except for the sprinkles if you are going that route) into a food processor and blend! Easy as pie..or cake! Spread the frosting onto the cake and decorate as desired. I went with simple green sprinkles, because that is what I had on hand. I think next time I will use green food coloring with white sprinkles for more of a pop!

Enjoy with a cuppa’ tea (or green beer?!)

xoxo,

Kate

What Kate Cooked: Dessert

4 March, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

What Kate Cooked:

If you have been, or are planning a trip to Columbus any time soon, I do hope I can persuade you to visit the North Market. This indoor market is in a beautiful, historic warehouse and houses over 30 booths and is home to local restaurant, grocery, and specialty shops. I am obsessed with Lan Viet’s Vietnamese soup and the Pure Imagination Chocolatier. Another Columbus classic is Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. Basically, it is very easy to walk out of the North Market ten pounds heavier and your wallet much lighter!

When I came across this gem in my local library I had to check it out and try some recipes. Of course, the first thing my eye (and stomach) was attracted to was the dessert section, specifically Jeni’s recipe!

Brandied Cherries

1 pound frozen black cherries
1/4 cup brandy (I used blackberry brandy!)
1/4 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes. Let cool before covering and refrigerating. This will stay good for up to a week!

The book suggests to do this the day before, but I couldn’t help myself and tried it the same day. It was still delicious. Also, Anthony had some this morning in vanilla Greek yogurt and said it was delicious for breakfast too!

Honey and Vin Santo Sauce (in my case Honey and Sherry Sauce)

1/4 cup Sherry
2 tablespoons honey

Combine in a sauce pan and stir over medium heat until dissolved.

I went to three different grocery stores looking for some Vin Santo but couldn’t find any so I used sherry instead. It turned out fantastic! I think it was my favorite of the three toppings I made. Plus, I feel like so many sauces call for “a splash of sherry” and I never have any, now I will be able to use the rest of the sherry in other recipes and not have to omit it!

Honeyed Whipped Cream

2 teaspoons honey
1 cup heavy cream

Pour honey and just a splash of cream into a mixing bowl. Mix until honey is combined with cream. Add the rest of the cream and whip until soft peaks form.

Get ready to lick the bowl, spoon, and whisk. This honeyed whip cream is fantastic! If you live in Columbus, or where Jeni’s is sold in a grocery store, the book suggests serving this over the Salty Caramel ice cream, but I also (yes, also) had this with a bowl of French vanilla and it was super yummy. Really, you could eat these toppings over any ice cream or frozen yogurt and be happy.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Kate

What She Cooked: Spicy Dragon Noodles

22 February, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

This post is quite special. Not only was this dish absolutely delicious, but it was also made by the both of us…TOGETHER! Oh yes indeed. Kate and her hubby took a last-minute weekend trip from their home in Ohio to visit my boyfriend and I here in Virginia, and although we weren’t able to finish all that we had hoped for, we still enjoyed every minute of our mini-reunion!

Say hello to Dragon Noodles, a super tasty spicy noodle dish that we cooked together this past weekend, thanks to the ever-most-wonderful Budget Bytes! While you are over there, please do check out some of her other amazing recipes; everything we’ve tried by her has always turned out great!

Also, we may or may not have finished this box of wine over the course of the weekend…oh and be on the lookout for a future post on what we did with the leftover green onions!

xoxo J&K

What She Cooked: Soup

25 January, 201416 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

This winter season has brought nothing but crazy winds, bitter cold, and icy snow for the both of us. So for our first post ever, we thought what better way to warm up this week than with a delicious bowl of soup!

What Kate Cooked:

I have fallen in love with Lucky’s Market, a new grocery store here in Columbus that specializes in bulk items, local foods, and delicious fresh produce. When I came accross these beautiful tomatoes on the vine, I knew I had to make some chunky, hearty, and flavorful tomato soup! I like my soup to be chunky, it keeps things interested. But you could easly puree this and make it into a smooth soup too!

Ingredients:

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes 
2.5-3 lbs tomatoes on the vine 
3 Tbs olive oil 
4 cloves of garlic, minced
 ¼ Tbs butter 
1 medium onion, chopped 
2 Tbs tomato paste 
4 Tbs flour 
2 C broth (chicken or veggie)
 ½ tea chipotle powder  
½ Tbs oregano
 ¼ tea cumin 
1-2 Tbs brown sugar

Salt and pepper

Greek yogurt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a cookie pan with foil. Wash and dry your tomatoes. Cut them and half and squeeze/scoop out the seeds and gunk. Line them face up on your cookie pan and drizzle them with olive oil. Sprinkle with the minced garlic. Pop them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Here is where I poured myself a glass of red wine.

Open the can of whole tomatoes and let the juice drain out. But save it because we will use it later!

Chop up an onion while you are melting 4 Tbs of butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion and give it a stir. Once it is translucent (about 5 minutes), add the tomato paste and flour and stir until coated.

Take the drained tomatoes and break them apart and into the pot. I used my hands but you could chop them up on a cutting board. Add the spices, salt and pepper to the pot and give it a stir to coat everything. Now add the reserved juice and broth.

Don’t those roasted tomatoes look delicious! Once those were done my mouth really started to water and my belly started to growl!

Add the tomatoes to the pot, cover, and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Uncover that yumminess! You are almost done! I mashed my soup with a potato masher right in the pot, but if you tend to like your tomato soup less chunky you could puree it!

I had mine with some delicious cheesy garlic bread on a baguette I picked up on the way home from work. Fabulous!

What Jamie Cooked:

For my take on this week’s soup recipe, I chose to make something quick and easy that would work conveniently with my busy work schedule. This simple chicken and rice soup (adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod) took only about an hour before it was ready to eat, and made great leftovers for my lunch the next day at work. To simplify my prep time, I decided to pick up an already-prepared rotisserie chicken from my local grocery store.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp EVOO
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped 1/2 inch thick
2 celery ribs, halved + chopped 1/2 inch thick
1 medium jalapeno*
5 fresh thyme sprigs
8 cups of chicken broth (low sodium*)
1 cup of water
1 cup long grain white rice
1 1/2 cooked chicken breast, shredded

*Optional

Start off with a good-sized soup pot over medium heat and tablespoon of olive oil. Add in garlic, onion, celery, jalapeno, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook and stir veggies for about 5-6 minutes until they’ve softened. Pour in the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Then, add in your rice and shredded chicken and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Continue to cook uncovered on medium-low heat until the rice becomes tender (about 30 minutes).

Serve hot with a baguette of your choice. Thanks to the wonderful suggestion from Kate, the next time I make this soup, I plan on substituting the long grain white rice with some orzo. MmMmm!

Cheers to winter. Cheers to soup. But most of all, cheers to good friends and the beginning of this blog. Here’s to finding inspiration together in our every day lives, wherever we may be!

xoxo J&K