Pizza Night!

For my fourth recipe I made homemade pizza. We got a bread machine about four years ago, but I have never once used it so this was a great opportunity for me to learn how. It is very easy and I am confident I would be able to make pizzas again in the future by myself. The first step is making the dough for the pizza. We combined flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, water, and dry yeast into the bread pan. 

Since we weren't baking it right away, we made a little pile of the dry yeast in the flour so that it didn't combine with any other ingredients. On the bread machine, you are able to set a timer so it doesn't start baking for a certain amount of time. Since I had two soccer games, we had to calculate what time to set the timer so that the bread would be done shortly after we got home. When it was done, we split the dough in half and stretched it into a circle (I used a rolling pin to make it a little easier). Then we brushed it with vegetable oil, lightly covered it with Saran Wrap, and let them sit for 15 minutes. Next I spread the sauce on both pizzas and covered both with shredded cheese. I made my pizza just cheese, but my dad prepared toppings to put on his. After all the toppings were on we covered them with a little more cheese.

 Next we put them in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes. They turned out great! 

Happy Easter!

For my third recipe, I wanted to make an Easter themed dessert. I did a quick online search and found these cute cupcakes with peeps on the top and the frosting made to look like grass. Also while I was looking, I came across a way to make confetti cupcakes. I combined these two ideas into one. You can check out the websites by clicking on the links below:

http://thefrugalgirls.com/2011/04/peeps-cupcakes.html

http://bakeitinacake.com/recipes/confettipartycupcakes

Again this whole process took a lot longer than I thought (about 3 hours – not including clean up!!). However, the final product turned out really well, but I will most likely never be making confetti cake again--too much work. To try to simplify the process, I decided to use box cake mix instead of making it from scratch. To make the colored confetti pieces I mixed up some cake mix then separated it equally into five different bowls. I then used food coloring and dyed each one a different color.

           

Next I poured each bowl into a cake pan, trying to keep the colors grouped together.

I baked the cake normally then cut it up into a lot of strips according to color. Turns out I had a lot of extra colored cake. In the future (if there is a future) I would cut the recipe in half. Next, I made another batch of white cake mix and left it white! I scooped one spoonful of white mix into the bottom of the cupcake liners. Then placed a layer of cup up colored strips, and then another layer of white mix. An example of this can be seen at the 2^nd website listed above.

Colored cake that will be cut into strips for the confetti

I baked the cupcakes for the recommended time, but checked them often because I wasn't sure how pre-baked cake inside would affect the cooking time. For the frosting I used a buttercream recipe found in a cookbook. I used 1 stick of butter, ½ tablespoon clear vanilla, 1/4 cup milk, and 4 cups of powdered sugar. I then added food coloring to make a green grass color. I experimented with different tips on a pastry bag to try to find the right one to make grass. After frosting the cupcakes, I used a toothpick to secure "peeps" chicks to the top of some of the cupcakes.

Final Product

Next week I will be making homemade pizza!

Mac and Cheese for a Crowd

For my second recipe, I made Paula Deen’s Creamy Macaroni and Cheese.  This is a slow cooker recipe so I thought it would be perfect to bring to my end of the year hockey party! Here is a website if you would like to watch a video of how she makes it! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/creamy-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe.html Let me warn you, she makes it look a lot easier than it is. However, with a positive attitude, this is a recipe I’m confident anybody can make. 

The recipe calls for:
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stuck) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

After reading the reviews, I took some people’s advice and put in one less egg and ½ cup more macaroni. During this process, I definitely ran into some troubles. First, I just started shredding the cheese thinking I can get some of the prep done. I obviously didn't read the recipe well enough because I just assumed 2 ½ cups meant 2 ½ blocks of cheese. After shredding for a while I noticed that I had quite a bit of cheese, checked the recipe, and realized my mistake.  In the end, we didn't actually have too much left over. I learned that after cooking the macaroni, if it sits too long then it will stick together so we had to put some butter in it to keep that from happening. This problem could have been solved if I had been smart enough to melt the cheese first and combine the eggs, butter, milk, and all the other ingredients before cooking and adding the macaroni. Also after cooking the macaroni and putting it in the crock pot, we decided that we thought we didn't have enough for the party. This created a lot of stress because we had to decide how many more cups of macaroni we wanted to make, and add more of the ingredients accordingly. After figuring all of that out and adding the sauce to the crock pot I thought, what more could go wrong? Sure enough, I ran into yet another problem.  When the melted cheese was poured into the crock pot it quickly set up and turned into a big, thick mass. We combined the rest of the ingredients and stirred, but the cheese didn't mix in very well. This left little chunks of cheese throughout the sauce--not appealing! We didn't think the low-heat setting of the crock pot would ever melt the cheese completely. To solve this problem, we poured the whole sauce back into a pan and heated it on the stove till the sauce was smooth. Then we poured it back in to the crock pot and added the macaroni.

In the end, it turned out really well! Everyone at the party loved it and I will definitely be making it again in the future. It is way better than any box macaroni and cheese I have ever had. Sorry there aren’t as many pictures as last time. Everything was very hectic while making it. I did, however, get a photo of the finished product!

For my next recipe I will be making an Easter themed dessert! 

Happy Birthday Mom!

For my first recipe I decided to make a birthday cake for my mother whose birthday was last Monday. To challenge myself I made a double layer cake from scratch. It took a lot longer than I expected (a good chunk of my Sunday afternoon), but the result was well worth it. For the cake part, I found a recipe in the Betty Crocker New Cook Book that my mom got for a wedding gift (not so "new" anymore). For the frosting, I decided to learn how to make my great-grandmother's chocolate fudge recipe that has been passed down through the family and is a favorite. To get started I had my dad pick up some whole milk at the store. My mom says using this instead of our normal 2% milk makes it taste better. The first thing I had to do was prepare the pans so that the cake doesn’t stick to the pan. To do this I took butter and rubbed it all along the bottom and the sides. Next I cut out a circular piece of parchment paper to place in the bottom of each pan and once again covered that in butter. Next I covered it in flour and shook out the extra. This is what it should look like:

Two pans ready to go!

 

Now time to mix all the ingredients!

 

First, in a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Next, in a mixer bowl beat ¾ cups of shortening on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla and beat till fluffy. Add 1 cup milk and the flour mixture alternately. Beat on low after each addition. Next I learned how to beat egg whites. First you separate the yolk from the whites and collect them in a measuring cup. One tip I learned from my mom was count out the number of eggs you need and put the rest away before you crack any so you don’t lose count of how many you have put in. Beat the five egg whites until stiff peaks form which was about three to four minutes. Next you have to fold it into the batter which is very different from mixing. You scoop up from the bottom and fold over on top. Next pour the mix into the pans! I wanted the cake to be as perfect as I could make it, so I weighed both of the pans to make sure the mix was separated equally. Then I baked it at 375° for 20 minutes.

They came out perfectly!

 

 

Onto the yummiest fudge frosting you will ever taste! So I figured that since I was making a layered cake I would double the recipe. In a pan melt 1/2 cup shortening, 2/3 cup milk, 2 cup sugar, 2 square unsweetened baking chocolate, and 1 teaspoon salt. Boil for 1 minute while stirring. Remove from head and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Stir once every five minutes until the frosting sets up.  The frosting took about an hour to set up so I had to be very patient. Here is a video of me frosting the top of the cake. I might not have the right technique, but I still got the job done.

 

The finished cake!

 

Next week I will be making a creamy macaroni and cheese slow cooker recipe by Paula Deen! Also while I was making the cake, I was curious as to what the difference between baking soda and baking powder was. I did a quick google search and you can check out the answer at this website: http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm 

-Sarah