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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Got Milk?: Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes

So.
This is a recipe that feels like I've made it many times.  I'm not sure that I actually have, but I feel like I have.  The combination of cream cheese and chocolate is classic, and when combined in cupcake form it's sublime.  Especially when the centres are still a little warm and gooey when you take these to a potluck.
J and I were invited to a BBQ/potluck this summer, and I decided to make a dessert to take without really knowing what I'd have in the house and what I'd ultimately make.  I pulled out my cakes magazine to find something that would appeal to large age group for which I actually had the ingredients in the house to make.
I found these.  And while I didn't have the peanut butter chips called for the in the original, I did have enough chocolate chips in the cupboard between the ends of a few different bags (mini, regular and chunks) to make up the 2 cups of chips called for in the filling.  That's right; 2 cups.  Don't skimp.  The filling makes a chocolate cupcake that keeps them coming back for more.
I present to you now from Shirley Dunbar of Mojave, CA, Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes:

Monday, October 26, 2015

Brunch Classic: Buttermilk Waffles

So.
In the summer, I was stocking the freezer for the upcoming school year.  I was looking for breakfast ideas - things I could quickly reheat and eat in the morning before scampering off to school for the day.  I was reading my freezer magazine and came across a few waffle recipes that sounded good and different, seeing as I don't own a waffle maker and therefore never make waffles.
I did what any blogger would do who is cheap and suddenly has a hankering for waffles:  I posted a message on Facebook, asking my friends if they had a waffle iron I could borrow.  My friend Carrie (who I torment on FB with recipes that are "so easy even Carrie could make them!") got me by posting that she had one; which she totally didn't, and thus dashed my hopes briefly until one of my other friends who actually owns a waffle maker offered to lend me hers.
It was in this manner that I ended up making waffles at the end of the summer to freeze and eat during the fall.  I pinned a bunch of recipes and made a few.  This was the first, and as a starting point, these were fantastic.  They're light, buttery and delicious the day you make them and again later reheated in your toaster.  I totally recommend borrowing a waffle iron.
I present to you now from Sally's Baking Addiction Buttermilk Waffles:

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Son of Magazine Challenge: October

Wow.
It's almost the end of October.
J and I have had a busy fall.  Between football and work I'm not spending as much time cooking as I might like.  We've been eating a lot of simple meals that go together quickly.  The good news is that we've been eating at home during the week, seeing as we're so often out on weekends right now.
Despite this, I did sit down with the October 2007 issue of Everyday Food at the beginning of the month and made a list of things to make.  Surprisingly, there is a lot of dessert on the list.  I haven't had a list like that in a bit.  But, when I've been choosing so many entrees for the last little bit, perhaps it's best that there's some dessert to even it out.
Here's what I thought looked good from the issue:

  • Sweet Potato Souffle
  • Apple Crisp
  • Warm Almond-Cherry Cake
  • Chocolate Pudding Cake
  • Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
Only 5, but they all look doable.  And if not, they all look yummy!

Monday, October 5, 2015

Secret Recipe Club: Bacon Cheeseburger Quiche

So.
It's time once again for Group A's reveal for the Secret Recipe Club.  Not sure what that is?  Skip on over and check it out.  I'll wait.  Promise.
This month I was assigned the blog Thyme for Cooking.  Katie has lived in Ireland, Spain and now resides in France.  Her food is simple and full of fresh ingredients.  Yet I picked the recipe where she mused about Hamburger Helper.  How odd.
I had fun looking through her index, and considered chicken before discovering the savoury pies and quiches.  There were pizzas with puff pastry crusts, and a chicken pot pie that I almost made before I found this quiche.  What originally drew me to it was the use of a potato crust.  I always have trouble getting a properly cooked crust on the bottom of my quiche (yes, I know...blind bake it!), and I thought that perhaps this would be better.
When I told J what I was planning to make, he had one suggestion.  That I add bacon.  How could that be bad?
I present to you now Thyme for Cooking's [Bacon] Cheeseburger Quiche: