All Smiles...All Teeth

Since I'm on a roll tonight, I thought I'd post a few pictures of my precious daughter who will be turning 1 next Friday! I love her little smile and how excited she gets when she sees her brother, or the camera!

Simple, but classy!

I wish the title were talking about my sense of style...but it's not! I love following food & craft blogs, and Bakerella is one of my favorites! Her title for this oreo truffle is: "Grocery item goes gourmet," and I'd have to agree!

3 ingredients:

1. Bag of Oreos (I use the imitation kind since it's cheaper)

2. Cream cheese

3. White Bark Chocolate (I got the kind you can melt in the microwave)

You can look at her blog for much prettier pictures and more details if you follow this LINK.

Basically you crush the oreos in a food processor (or put in a plastic bag and then step, punch, kick) so that it is all crumbly. Add the cream cheese (at room temperature) and mix until all combined and creamy. Form into balls or other shapes (I used this recipe to promote our Super Bowl party for our Community Group and turned them into football shapes). Then melt chocolate, dip into the chocolate, set on wax paper and let cool. Refrigerate. Eat.

Here are the super cute football ones she made (my pictures of these did not turn out).

Pepperoni Rolls

In eighth grade we moved from Wexford (suburb of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, West Virginia. During lunch on my first day of school, I noticed that a few of my classmates were eating what appeared to be plain bread rolls. I thought it was a little odd to eat a plain roll so I asked what it was. They couldn't believe I had never heard of a pepperoni roll and wondered where I was from! Did I mention that Pittsburgh was only a two hour drive away from Bridgeport?! Anyway, I haven't had a lot of pepperoni rolls in my life, but I do LOVE them!

In my previous post I mentioned the homemade pretzels I made...well I thought I'd try to make a pretzel pepperoni roll (because who don't want even more salt in their pepperoni roll?) I made them for one of our women's events with CRU we had this past weekend, and they turned out pretty good...so I thought I'd share with you!

1. Mix the following with the dough hook (if you have a stand mixer, if not I would assume you can stir to combine): 1 1/2 cups warm water, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 1 package active dry yeast, 3 ounces unsalted butter melted...let sit for 5 minutes (look at how bubbly the yeast gets! Kinda fun...almost as cool as hearing Rice Krispie popping when you add milk)

2. Add 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt & 5 cups all-purpose flour. Mix on low (with dough hook) until combined and then increase speed to medium until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl (about 3-4 minutes)

*pretty sure you can do this by hand if you punch it (kneading it), it will just take longer

3. Put some vegetable/canola oil in a bowl and "oil the bowl" with it, take the dough and knead it into a ball, turn the dough to coat with the oil and then put in the bowl, cover with a towel and put in a warm place.

4. Let it rise for at least 1 hour. Look how beautiful!!! (not that I tasted the dough at this point, but I did...and it was yummy)

5. Roll the dough out and then use a pizza cutter to cut into small rectangles (squares, triangles, whatever you prefer). You can make these whatever I size you want.

6. Place a few pieces of pepperoni in the middle (I just bought the cheapest store brand kind, but you could get it sliced from the deli or even use turkey pepperoni).

7. Take two opposite ends and twist, then do the same on the other side.

8. You can make it look prettier than this, but this is what I came up with (I could hear Rachel crying from her room, and Logan wanted juice so I was working as fast as I could).

9. Put 3 quarts water in a large pan and bring to a boil. Then add 3/4 cup baking soda (once again, very fun to watch it fizzzzzz).

10. While the water is boiling (this is important; I turned the stove down and the first few were in water that wasn't boiling and they didn't turn out as good) add a few at a time and leave in for about 30 seconds. Use a spoon to make sure the tops are covered by water too.

11. Take out (use a spoon with holes, or spatula with slits) and put on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with oil (if it's not non stick or stoneware you might even consider using wax paper).

12. Crack 2 eggs and mix with 1 tablespoon of water. Use this egg wash to brush on top of the rolls, then sprinkle salt on top.

12. Bake for 12-18 minutes (until golden brown on top and crispy on the bottom) at 425. If you notice the tops are getting too brown and the bottom is still a little underdone (because the pepperoni is working its' greasy magic) then you can put foil on top the last few minutes.

13. Remove from pan once they are out of the oven. Enjoy!

Superbowl Feast

We've been trying to eat healthy during the week & letting loose during the weekends. So, that meant we went all out for the Superbowl! I've made my share of homemade pretzels in my lifetime, but I've never had pretzels that have turned out THIS good! In case you like pretzels (Auntie Anne's yummmmm) you can check this recipe out & enjoy.

The recipe is from Bobby Flay & the official title is: Soft Pretzels with Queso Poblano Sauce and Mustard Sauce. Chris made both the sauces and they were good, although the cheese sauce was almost too rich (which says a lot coming from me). I followed the directions for the pretzels exactly as stated (although I substituted dark brown sugar for the muscovado sugar). CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE.

Here is a picture of the pretzels right out of the oven. My mouth is watering as I remember how soft they were on the inside and a little crunchy on the outside. I wish I had some right now!

Also on our menu:

Hot Dogs (Gourmet Hot Dogs from AJ's Fine Food, and they were amazing)

Potato Skins (bacon, cheese, ranch)

Molten Lava Cake

I've made the Molten Lava Cake before, but I think I prefer this recipe. It was not only easier and faster to make, but it was delicious!!!! It was from the Tasty Kitchen site, which if you have not been to you NEED to check it out! It is a site started by The Pioneer Woman, which if you like food and like blogs you should do yourself a favor and follow her blog. Here are the links:

Tasty Kitchen

The Pioneer Woman

Molten Lava Cakes

And here is a picture of my sweet children enjoying dinner (I know their bibs would have been more appropriate last Superbowl). I think Logan was probably explaining the play to Rachel.

One more random thing, if you have never tried a Tres Leches Cake I urge you to give this one a try. TRES LECHES CAKE. I have only recently heard of it, and when I saw the Pioneer Woman had a recipe I wanted to try it out. We had some of our students over for some homemade lasagna, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and I made this for dessert. If you don't like rich desserts you probably don't want to make it. Also if you don't like the idea of cake being "wet," you'll want to pass. Otherwise, YUMMY!

*Side Note: I'm trying to give up desserts for awhile. Ha! Since I'm not eating them tonight then it's at least nice to think about them (same logic for watching the Food Network late at night when I'm hungry but not going to eat anything).