I'm Here! + Lime-Glazed Cookies

I'm here, I'm here! I hope you didn't forget about me while I was away... I know I didn't forget about you :) A lot has happened since the last time I posted something (on the first day of this year -- over six months ago). A lot has also not happened since then, as well.

Like cooking or baking. That pretty much did not happen at all.

Writing things for fun. Nope.

Doing anything blog related. Nada.

But I do have some good excuses, and I also have some good reasons for coming back.

The last time I posted I looked something like this:

But this time I look something like THIS:

That's right... we're having a baby!!!

So, you can see why I haven't been around for awhile. Between morning sickness for the first trimester and just overall tiredness at the end of teaching all day long while being pregnant for the rest of the time, I had no energy to spend doing something creative in the kitchen. There were many times when I just had no energy to go into the kitchen, let alone be creative. The second trimester was much easier and I started cooking again, but nothing newsworthy. I actually just visited my own blog each week and thought, "What are the easiest things I can make?" Which led us to a diet of fish tacos, leek-baked eggs, and lots and lots of pasta.

But now I am back, and I am back for real!

Last Friday I said goodbye to another group of students and locked my classroom door -- but this time I will not be getting another bunch in the Fall. This time I will be taking care of my own baby boy, my now full-time student as several friends have called him. My chosen career as a teacher was spectacular, and now my new chosen "career" as a homemaker/at-home-mommy will be a new adventure, equally spectacular yet very, very different.

So now, after growing a baby, teaching children to write essays and do multiplication, and writing a master's thesis (oh yeah, I did that as well this year), I am READY to be back in the kitchen. To help me get motivated and hold me somewhat accountable I asked my friends on Facebook if anyone was interested in joining a baking group with me. Nineteen of my friends said yes! The very first recipe we did was Martha Stewart's Lime-Glazed Cookies, and this household of two-and-a-half loved them. It was a nice blend of tart and sweet, and really great to enjoy on a hot summer day. Be forewarned, however... they are small and you might just eat the whole batch in one day. I mean, it's not like we did or anything. Shoot -- who am I kidding? We totally did. Feel free to do the same thing, too. You might just have to find a different excuse as my "I'm eating for two" doesn't apply to everybody at this moment ;)

Thank you so much for stopping by today and reading this. I am very happy to be back on this cooking journey with you, and hope that this finds you well, healthy, and happy. Cheers!

LIME-GLAZED COOKIES

Recipe from Everyday Food, July/August 2004

(Glaze recipe slightly adapted)

24-32 COOKIES   •  PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES

Ingredients for the cookies:

• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated lime zest (from about 2 limes)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the glaze:

• ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest

directions

1. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add lime zest, lime juice, and salt; beat until combined. Add flour; beat until dough is just combined.
2. Place dough on a 16-by-12-inch piece of parchment or wax paper. Using your hands, shape into an 8-inch log; flatten into a rectangle (1 1/2 inches high and 2 1/2 inches wide). Fold paper over log; flatten sides against work surface. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Slice dough crosswise 1/4 inch thick; place on sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed and barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; glaze.
4. To make Lime Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until spreadable. Using back of a small spoon, spread about 1/2 teaspoon glaze on each cooled cookie.

Store unglazed cookies in airtight container, up to four days. Glazed cookies are best eaten the day they are glazed.

COST: $3.82 (Less than 20cents per cookie)

Cookies    //    Dessert    //   Baking

Nutritional Information per Cookie
calories 107   •    total fat 6g    •    sodium 1g    •    sugars 6.8g   •    protein 1g

Give Thanks + A Maple Brown Sugar Pumpkin Roll

Can you believe I lived my entire life -- all 30 years -- without ever once having a slice of pumpkin roll? Yeah. But I fixed that this weekend.

Oh. My. Goodness.

How did I not know about this? Well, whatever the reason, that will never happen again.

This recipe is from my friend Carrie over at Bakeaholic Mama.  If you like pumpkin you will LOVE her blog. She did "30 Days of Pumpkin" during the month of October, and if this is an indicator of the taste for the other recipes, then you can't go wrong...

And now, let's give a little thanks :)

Day 6: I am grateful for all of the parents who entrust their children to me each day. For without these kids my life would be missing a whole lot of laughter, hugs, and growth (both in them and in me).

Day 7: I am thankful for my mom, whose great life lessons have stuck with me throughout the years: don't put socks in the microwave to dry quickly, for they will catch on fire; you need not feel ashamed when you eat an entire box of Girl Scout cookies in one sitting, it is only natural; and you have no room for hate in your heart when Jesus lives there, so LET IT GO.

Day 8: Personal, but nonetheless, I am thankful for this person!

Day 9: I am thankful for my friends.  I have the best support system on Earth, and I am beyond grateful for each person who supports me, celebrates with me, and encourages me.  

Day 10: I am grateful for my friends and 'family' from Palau and Ebeye. People in both places opened their arms to me and brought me in, loved on me, and still put forth an effort to stay connected from afar. It is a wonderful thing to know I at any point I can go back and be at home. Mesulang and Kommol Tata!

MAPLE BROWN SUGAR PUMPKIN ROLL

Recipe by Bakeaholic Mama

SERVES 10 •  PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 1 ½ HOUR + CHILLING

ingredients:

• ¾ cup flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

for the filling

• 8 oz. cream cheesed, softened
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 T. (only if needed)

for the topping

• 3 T. pure maple syrup
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• pinch of salt

directions

Visit Bakeaholic Mama HERE                                                     

COST: $7.32        COST PER SERVING (10): $0.73

Earl Grey Cupcakes (and some lost recipes...)

Joy the Baker.  She's a favorite of us all, right?  Right.  And Sundays with Joy are such a good part of my week (or -- now -- every other week).  I try a new recipe from her book and then we enjoy something that is pretty darn amazing.  If only I kept taking pictures to keep track of it all...

Like carrot cake pancakes.  Those were fabulous.  But other than my word, there is no proof I tried the recipe. There was supposed to be proof.  I put some in the fridge to save to take pictures as we ate them for dinner.  Carrot cake pancakes for dinner?  Shouldn't that be breakfast or dessert? One might think so.  No regrets.  Except the fact that those pancakes in the fridge waiting for the light of day got forgotten about until two weeks later, when they were no longer beautiful but fuzzy and green.

I did, however, remember to take pictures of the whole wheat honey and goat cheese drop biscuits.

It's just that I never got around to posting them.  Guess I was to busy eating them to post something.  That's because they were delicious in every way.  Not gritty like most whole wheat, not stinky like some goat cheese.  Just lightly sweet and fluffy and all around tasty.

This time I decided to make sure I did it all... Baked. Photo'd. Posted.  So what if I am a week behind the group's schedule with the posting part?  In the end the result is the same: a completely new treat that we enjoyed immensely.  And that's the whole point, right?

Joy's version was chamomile, but I like earl grey, so that's what we went with.  I followed Joy's recipe to a T (ha ha ha, I'm a knee slapper ;) ) except for the type of tea I used.  The rest however went just as she said, even down to 'share with lady friends over tea'.  Thank you for the suggestion, Joy.  I did, we all enjoyed, and now I have one more baking recipe I can file away in the 'I really can bake!' category.

To get the recipe for Joy the Baker's Chamomile Tea Cupcakes, visit her blog or go buy the book.  Either way, you will be happy.

Carrot Coconut Cupcakes... HAPPY EASTER!

Carrots, coconut, walnuts.  A teeny bit of orange juice, and a whopping bit of fresh cream cheese frosting...

... here are some cupcakes that every Easter Bunny, big or small, can enjoy this year :)

Whether you are hunting for eggs or singing in the choir at church, I hope today is a very special one for you.  Happy Easter!

Recipe from Everyday Food, May/June 2003

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut, plus more for garnish 
• 8 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners. In a bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and eggs.
2. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt. Add flour; mix. Stir in carrots, walnuts, and coconut.
3. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
4. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
5. Frost cupcakes, and garnish with shredded coconut.
   
   

   COST: $5.72        COST PER CUPCAKE (12): $0.48

Red Velvet (from beet juice) Cupcakes

It is the week of L-O-V-E!  And you know what?  I couldn't care less about Valentine's Day, honestly.

I know, I am such a February Grinch.

But you know all those years that you didn't have somebody to celebrate with except your girlfriends, going out together pretending that you would rather be with them than with some hot dude, all knowing you were lying to each other, but for the sake of the holiday, that lie must go on?  Yeah, that was me.  Forever.  And so at some point between passing out little grocery-store cards in elementary school and getting dressed up to pretend celebrate in college, I just gave up.

Of course, now I have my Valentine, and a forever one at that.  It does make the day seem a little more appealing... except all those people all trying to make dinner reservations for the same night, and all those expectations of roses and candy and cards and... AH!  It makes my head hurt.  Besides, Valentine's Day is celebrated on a completely different day in Brazil, so my husband would never even remember anyway.

But you know what we do remember, every single year?  President's Day.

Think about it: no crowds and you (or at least WE) get the whole day off, and it is close enough to V-day that you don't feel totally like a love-grinch.  And so, we celebrate President's Day.  I know, how romantic. ;)

In the spirit of President's Day - slash - Valentine's Day (for the rest of you), I give you kinda-red velvet cupcakes with no artificial coloring.  Ta-da!

For Sundays with Joy this week we were supposed to make her red velvet marble cake.  That sounded good and all, but I really wanted cupcakes, and not marbly ones.  And all that food coloring really just turned me off.  So I set out to see what I could do instead.  Google kindly informed me that beets were my go-to pigment changer and I just so happened to have some in the fridge, straight from the farmer's market.  Even though I didn't follow Joy's recipe, she did inspire me to create one that is amazing.  Very little sugar, no added colors, and a most-excellent taste.  PERFECT.  And just in time to celebrate President's Day... or Valentine's Day, if you are into that sort of thing.  :)

My Valentine.  (Ok, I guess I am not a total grinch!)

Red Velvet (from beet juice) Cupcakes
adapted from the Bake Cakery Blog

ingredients

• 2 large beets
• 3 tablespoons cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon plain greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wrap beets individually in tinfoil, unpeeled.  Bake on baking sheet for one hour or until you can pierce with a fork.  When finished, peel beets and cut into large chunks.  Reduce oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put beets, lemon juice, and vinegar in blender and blend until a puree.  Add other wet ingredients and blend again.
3. Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Add beet mixture to dry ingredients and beat with cake beater until well mixed.  
4. Pour into cupcake liners (2/3 full) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.

**For the frosting, I used this buttercream recipe and added the beet juice that pooled inside the tin foil to make it pink. 

**My cupcakes came out dark, but adding more lemon juice is supposed to make it brighter.  You can play around with that.  The color was bright pink batter, but dark pink/brown when baked with my amount of lemon juice. The taste was fabulous, though.

COST: $2.52   COST PER CUPCAKE (12): $0.21

Third time's a charm... right? (Coconut Pound Cake)

We decided to put up new curtains a couple of weeks ago.
Bought the rod...
... it was too short.
Took it back and bought another rod (the right length this time).
It was missing a piece.
Took it back and got one more...
it fit and worked.

Third time;s a charm.


It was time to get a new dining table.
Er... get our own dining table, instead of using a hand-me-down one.
It arrived.  We opened the box.  The screws were loose and the table was broken.
Called, complained, and waited for a new one.
The reviews were all 4 1/2 stars or above...
Excellent packing, no loose screws, but broken top.
We are waiting for another one.
Which will be perfect, they assured me...

Third time's a charm.

Made a recipe the other day.
Didn't have all of the ingredients, so I thought would substitute.
The pictures were amazing.
The taste was good.
The texture was awful.

Made another recipe after that.
The texture was good.
The taste was pretty darn incredible (my husband feel in love with me even a bit more, I think...)
The pictures?  They are the ones you see here.
Not terrible, but good.
Just Ok.
But I want more than OK.  I want GOOD and GREAT and YES, I AM PROUD OF THESE pictures.

Next time, it is going down.  Beautiful pictures and a fabulous taste to accompany it.  How do I know?

Because third time's a charm.

(Seriously, though, MAKE THIS.  Trust me, OK?  Ok.  Thank you.)

Coconut Pound Cake
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food, Oct. 2012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ingredients

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk mixed together with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted, divided
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 8 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down bowl. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with two 1/2-cup additions buttermilk, and beat until combined. With a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/4 cups coconut.
2. Transfer batter to pan and bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, 1 hour. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack. (Store at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to 4 days.)
3. Whisk together confectioners' sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.
   
   

   COST: $4.39  COST PER SLICE (10): $0.44

Peppermint Crinkle Cookies {Cookie Swap Recipe}

My poor baking gadgets have been neglected.  There they sat, in the drawer, lonely and wondering what they did that was so bad to make me never take them out to see the light of day or feel the heat of the oven.

Poor babies.

Good thing the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap came to the rescue!

This was the second year I participated in this cookie swap, and both times I have had so much fun!  I mean, who doesn't like to have boxes of cookies -- freshly baked, I might add -- show up at their door?!  Yeah, that's what I thought.

Last year I sent off some cookies to Tennessee, and later met and became friends with the lady who received my box.  And, completely randomly, I received a box from someone who lives in the same little town in Illinois that my mother and grandmother grew up in.

Cookie swaps make the world just a little bit smaller...

How nice of OXO to send us all spatulas!  You can get one of these
bad boys for yourself HERE, and half of the proceeds go to fight
cancer in kids.  SWEET!

Of course, there is always the task of finding the perfect cookie recipe.  Since it can't be one that is on your blog yet (and if you are like me, you can only cook things that you put/have put on your blog), that means you need to find a new recipe.  One that you will like, one that strangers will like, one that ships well.

Luckily we live in the day and age of Pinterest.  Within five minutes I found it.

Cookies that taste like brownies???

Yes, please!

To celebrate my favorite flavor of Christmas, I added some peppermint extract.  Peppermint + chocolate = a merry Christmas, if you ask me.

And so, Peppermint Crinkle Cookies were born.  They lived a good life, for about five minutes, until my husband gobbled them all up, leaving me with one.

He apparently forgot that sharing was caring.

How nice of him to leave me one... ;)

In the end, these cookies traveled from my home in California to New York, Maryland, and another city not too far away from me, hopefully to arrive in tact and still fresh.  You never know with the busy holiday mail season!

And the best part?  I got cookies, too!  Thank you Natalie at The Sweets Life and Taylor at Greens & Chocolate.  You ladies had me at the peppermint...  As for Beka, your coconutty cookies were a perfect treat for this half-Brazilian home.  You brought a little bit of Natal our way.  Thank you!

Cookies from Taylor @ Green&Chocolate

Another holiday season, another cookie swap in the bag.  Merry Christmas!

Recipe adapted from the Magnolia Bakery in Los Angeles

MAKES 24-30 cookies
INGREDIENTS:  

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups White sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
½ cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium size stainless steel bowl whisk together 1 cup cocoa, 2 cups white sugar and ½ cup vegetable oil.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking slightly after each.
4. Stir in the vanilla just until mixed.
5. Stir the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.
6. Cover dough and chill for at least 30 minutes
7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
8. Using a scoop, roll dough into a one inch balls.
9. Roll the balls in powdered sugar coating generously.
10. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and bake  cookies for 10-12 minutes just until set. Watch these cookies carefully. They are like a brownie and are better when the center is just barely set. The cookies will “crack” on top exposing the soft chocolate center.

COST: $3.16    COST PER DOZEN (about 3): $1.06

Apple Pie Crostatas (Sundays with Joy)

My kitchen and I have a love/hate relationship as of late.  Really, it is quite simple --

I hate that I spilled rice all over the floor.  All over.  I hate even more that I did it twice.  I am still finding little rice kernels here and there, even though I have swept at least 18 times...

On the other hand, I love that I made, for the first time in our marriage -- and my life -- perfect Brazilian rice.  Each little piece completely separate, no piece stuck to another one...

Or, for example, I hate that I tried to make cheez-its from scratch and I totally failed.  Instead nice little cheesy squares, I got one huge cracker that was waaaaaaaay too salty.

It is in the trash right now as we speak.

But I love that I was able to make this week's 'Joy recipe', apple pie crostatas. I made them and they turned out perfectly.

Yup, I love that.

Honestly, I was terrified about this recipe.  It seems that every time I tried to do dough from scratch I botch it up.  [See Cheez-it reference above.]  And the pressure was on, because I had no choice but to make this recipe.  It was up for this week, and when I committed to this cook-every-recipe-in-the-book thing, I committed to it.  So, I made the dough.

And you know what?  It turned out superbly!

Apple pie crostatas... another way of saying hand held apple pies.  Who wouldn't want that?!

So right now, my kitchen and I are on happy terms.  And it shall remain that way, until I step in some more rice kernels.

Since we (the 'Sundays with Joy' group) are going through the entire cookbook from Joy the Baker, we are not sharing the recipes online unless we adapted them (which I did not for this recipe) to keep the entire book from living online.  That is up to Joy to decide if she wants to do that... buuuuuut if you would like to make something similar, visit Joy's blog to see the recipe for Apricot Crostatas.  And she gives you a step by step visual guide.  Perfect!

If you would like to get Joy's book and join us as we bake our way through it, you can get it here.

Happy baking!

Brown Sugar Banana Muffins with Avocado Buttercream

Friends, I have turned a corner.

A baking corner.

I used to be terrified of baking.  TERRIFIED.  But the other day I did it, just for fun.  

No 'Sundays with Joy' recipe to tackle, no friends coming over, nada.  I was just sitting on the couch, about ready to mutter those ugly words of "I'm bored!", and decided to do something about it before that phrase could escape my lips.

Even before I flipped through a cookbook I thought about all of those delicious pictures I have pinned and repinned on Pinterest and decided to just go through, one at a time, until I found one that I had all the ingredients on hand.  After three recipes, I found it:  Brown sugar banana muffins with avocado buttercream from How Sweet It Is.

I know, mine didn't come out as pretty as hers.  It's OK.  I made avocado buttercream!  And it tasted good.  Once I got over the color being on top of a muffin/cupcake (which I must admit, is actually growing on me...) I decided I liked it.  A lot.

And so did my friend Myra.  She told me I had enough and took the rest of them home with her yesterday.  Proof that avocado plus sugar is a good idea.

Bananas & avocados.  Two fruit that stand in solidarity, side by side, yet nobody knew...

For the recipe, please visit How Sweet It is HERE.  And then you can laugh at how ugly my frosting looks compared to hers ;)

*She used sour cream, which I didn't have, so I used buttermilk -- which I also didn't have.  I actually 'made' it by mixing milk with a little bit of vinegar and a tad of melted butter.  As far as I can tell, it worked just fine!
** My batched yielded 12 muffins, so I cut the avocado buttercream recipe in half.

COST: $4.95    Cost per muffin (12): $0.42

His and Hers: The tale of two biscuits

This week's Sundays with Joy recipe was jalapeno, chive, and cheddar biscuits.  I like cheddar and chives, but I am a little afraid of jalapenos.  Probably stems from the time my best friend and I decided that we were Native Americans and needed to go hunting and gathering... in our neighbors yard.  Picked up some good stuff, too.  Except for the jalapeno.  Darn thing was hot, made us cry, and then we rubbed our eyes with our jalapeno-juice-smeared hands.  Now the tears were really falling, and our noses were runny, and of course we tried to rub the snot away... with those same jalapeno-juice-smeared hands.

Let's just say I never went "gathering" in someone else's yard since.

Or let a jalapeno get anywhere near me.

But I decided I would be bold.  I heard, from Joy the Baker herself (the source of this recipe), that if you take out the seeds the jalapeno isn't that hot.  So bold I did.  And I had some jalapeno, chive, and cheddar biscuits.

You know what?  I can do jalapeno in biscuits!  I was just really cautious as I was take out the seeds... there was no accidentally touching my eyes at that moment.  No sirree, I learned that lesson years ago.

My husband, on the other hand, said, "NO WAY!"  He is a hater of all things spicy and is actually allergic to some peppers, so he was not even willing to attempt being bold with me.  When I asked him what we wanted instead he thought about it and then settled on kale.  He wanted kale biscuits.

Different.

But whatever.  Different can be done.  Besides, I still had my yummy biscuits all to myself anyway ;)

Since I was putting kale in there, a favorite Brazilian veggie, I threw in some other favorite Brazilian items: mozzarella and red bell pepper.  And some cheddar as well, because cheddar tastes amazing and everyone should eat it every chance they get, Brazilian men included.

What did we discover?  Kale biscuits -- they sound weird, but they taste GOOD.

You know, I believe in that whole 'what's your is mine and mine is yours' mantra in regards to marriage.  Except for these biscuits.  Both were great, but I guarded mine and he guarded his.  I guess we can say, once again, Joy's recipe was a success.  And so was mine.  SCORE!

For the jalapeno biscuit recipe, get yourself a copy of Joy's fabulous book.  

For the kale biscuit recipe, here you go:

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup of milk + 1 teaspoon of white vinegar mixed to make buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
1 large handful of kale, chopped small
olive oil
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup cubed cheddar cheese
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
Coarse sea salt for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.

2.  In skillet over medium heat. saute kale in small amount of olive oil until just tender, about 3 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 of the milk combo and egg. In another small bowl, toss together the kale, cheeses, and bell pepper.

3. Add the butter to the flour mixture and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the flour resembles coarse meal.  

4. Toss the kale mixture into the flour mixture. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk and egg mixture all at once. Toss together with a fork, making sure that all of the flour bits are moistened by the buttermilk. Dump the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, just enough to bring the dough together.

5. Pat the dough until about 1 inch thick.  Cut the dough into 2 inch squares. Gather the dough scrapes, pat into a new circle and cut more squares. Repeat until all of the dough has been used.  (You can use a round biscuit cutter if you are fancy like that.)

6. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheets, brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle them with the sea salt. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. You can eat them straight from there the next day, or reheat in a 350-degree oven until warmed through.

COST: $4.89   Cost per biscuit (12): $0.41

Sundays with Joy -- Avocado Pound Cake (Tiffany Style)

I have been on an avocado ROLL these past few weeks!  And here I am again, bringing that delicious green fruit (although commonly thought of as a vegetable) to you.

This is my first time making pound cake, and yes, the ingredients are a little different that one would normally use.  What can I say?  Joy (the Baker) shares my love of avocados, and I am grateful she does because that means my weekly recipe handed out by our group has had a lot of avocado recipes.  No complaints there!

I made the cake just following the directions straight as written, except I omitted the cornmeal.  I don't like it that much.  Other than that I just followed orders, and it turned out quite nicely. 

It is good by itself, don't get me wrong.  But when I think of pound cake I think of strawberries and whipped cream on top.  However, that didn't sound right for this.  So after a moment or two of pondering what would be good with it I decided that since avocado is one of my husband's favorite fruits (and he really eats it like a fruit, with sugar and everything), I would put his other favorite fruits on it... bananas and maracuja, or passion fruit to you non-Portuguese speakers.

Armed with a pint of heavy whipping cream and a canister of passion-orange concentrate, I set to work.  It really is simple: pour 1/2 of the carton of cream (or buy the one-cup carton instead) and scoop out a tablespoon worth of concentrate.  Stir and add some sugar, if you want (I used about 1T).  Using a cake mixer, beat the mixture together for about 2 - 3 minutes until the cream is getting kind of stiff.  That's it.  Flavored whipped cream.  And you can use any concentrate you like, really.

Random fruit mixture?  Maybe.

Good fruit mixture?  Definitely.

I found out it also tastes really good with a spread of butter on top.  Yum oh yum.  Now we have one and a half loaves of avocado pound cake on the counter, a tub of passion-orange whipped cream in the fridge, and happy tastebuds in our mouths. 

Head on over to Joy's page to get the recipe, or better yet, pick up her book to find this and many more unique-yet-yum things to try!

MORE AVOCADO RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:

//avocado pineapple salsa//

//chocolate avocado vegan cupcakes//

//avocado fries//

//avocado pizza//

 

COST: $8.60         COST per serving (20): $0.43

(Cost includes pound cake, whipped cream, and bananas.  It is the whole package.)