Mexican Lasagna

My Aunt Sally makes a delicious dish that she calls Wet Tacos. This consists of making a big pot of ground beef, refried beans, and enchilada sauce (the mixture is soupy, not super thick like chili). Then you take corn tortillas and put them down in the sauce one or two at a time and let them get warm. Place the warmed tortilla on a plate and top with a little extra sauce...layer as many tortillas as you like. Top with desired toppings such as lettuce, cheese, tomato, peppers, etc. When you serve this up, especially for a bigger crowd, it takes a while as you have to do each plate individually in order to get the tortillas warm and holding their shape. I got the idea to adapt this into a mexican lasagna, not knowing how it would turn out. I made the wet taco mixture, except I added less enchilada sauce in order to make it thicker like a spaghetti sauce. I kept the dish pretty mild and provided toppings for everyone to put on their own plate. This is a dish you can easily adjust to your liking.

Mexican Lasagna/Wet Tacos

Ingredients:
1.5 - 2 lb ground beef
2 cans refried beans (I use fat free)
1 28oz can enchilada sauce (I use mild, but use the hot if you like it)
**If making wet tacos you will want to add more enchilada sauce - maybe one 14oz can or even a second 28 oz can
Cheese
Taco fixings - lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream, peppers, etc

Directions:
1. Brown the ground beef, draining the fat
2. Stir in the refried beans and add enchilada sauce. Once it is warm it is pretty much done, but I guess it could simmer a while to let the flavors soak in
3. Using a casserole dish, put some of the wet taco mixture in the bottom of the dish.
4. Place a layer of corn tortillas, topping with sauce and cheese. Keep repeating the layers, ending with sauce and a topping of cheese.
5. I left all the taco fixings out for everyone to top their own plate since I was feeding friends and I didn't know what they liked. Feel free to spice it up as you like with adding different ingredients to the layers.
6. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and it is bubbly.

Reese Peanut Butter Cake

I was reading a baking blog I found online yesterday and came across this amazing cake!! It combines my favorite thing in the world with cake - Reese peanut butter cups!!!! Thank goodness for Valerie wanting me to make her a cake so I could try out the recipe. It took a lot of willpower, but I didn't eat ANY of the cake. I made one 2-layer 6in cake for a birthday cake, and then the remaining batter made about a dozen cupcakes. The only problem with the cupcakes was that they didn't have as many Reese cups in them, and it is probably just the scoop I used didn't pick them up as much. I also changed the frosting and used the frosting on the Hershey's cocoa can instead of a dark chocolate ganache like the recipe called for. As I was making this, I thought about a future frosting and trying to make a ganache out of melted Reese cups...that will be another day another time. :)

Reese Peanut Butter Cake
Recipe came from www.bakerella.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
1 devils food cake mix (or any chocolate cake would probably do)
3 eggs
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c oil
Reese cups (I bought 2 bags)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2.Mix cake mix, eggs, buttermilk and oil together
3. Chop up Reese cups and then add in about 2 cups (or as many or as little as you want - I think I used 1/2 of a bag for the cake batter and kept the rest for garnishing).


4. Pour batter into cake pans or cupcake pans. Use the box as a guidelines for baking, but I think my 6in cakes took about 30-35 min and the cupcakes needed 15 min.

5. Let cakes cool before frosting.


6. Frost with desired frosting (I even tried a couple with some leftover cream cheese frosting but Val said that was too rich, so maybe stick with chocolate or come up with your own creation)


Hershey's Cocoa Frosting

Ingredients:
1 stick butter or margarine
2/3 c cocoa
1/3 c milk
3 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla

Directions:
1. Melt butter and stir in cocoa
2. Mix in powdered sugar, alternating with milk. I didn't measure the powdered sugar or the milk - just kept adding until it became a consistency I liked.
3. Stir in vanilla - then frost away!

Cheesecake

While we were in San Diego my Aunt Sally made this delicious cheesecake. The recipe comes from my new aunt Mary Jane and her sister. I used to hate cheesecake, but my tastes changed on my last trip to San Diego in 2003. I went to the Cheesecake Factory with my Aunt Sally and ended up ordering their Godiva chocolate cheesecake and that was when it went all downhill from there. Maybe that is one reason I have had a weight problem since then...

I ended up making this recipe last night to take as a housewarming dessert to our friends Mike and Taemi. Now my aunt told me this is a foolproof recipe and hers doesn't crack (and hers was gorgeous). However when I took mine out of the oven it had a crack the size of the Grand Canyon. Oh well - it should taste just as great! One of the problems could be that she used a 10in pan, whereas I only have a 9in pan. This recipe was also way too much for a 9in pan, but luckily for me I have a set of mini 4in pans so I was able to make an additional 3 mini cheesecakes with the batter. I brought 2 to work and left one at home for Kris. :)

Let me know your cheesecake secrets if you have any! I have a chocolate recipe to try but need a destination for it first because it can't sit around my house.

Ingredients:
4 8oz packages cream cheese
2 c. sugar
16oz sour cream
6 eggs
2 t vanilla
***All ingredients should be at room temperature***

Graham cracker crust:
2 c crumbs
2 T sugar
1 stick butter (can use less - just need to get crumbs wet so they stick together)

Directions:
1. Prepare graham cracker crust and press into springform pan (could do oreo crust if you prefer)
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Cream together the sugar and cream cheese.
4. Add in sour cream
5. Mix in eggs, one at a time
6. Add vanilla
7. Be careful not to overbeat (but who knows how much that means)
8. Pour into graham cracker crust
9. Put a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven
10. Bake cheesecake for 45 min. After 45 minutes, turn oven off and leave cheesecake in oven 1 hour longer and don't open the door during cooking. For the mini cheesecakes, I baked them 30 minutes and still left them in oven for an hour.
11. Remove cheesecake from oven and put directly into refrigerator UNCOVERED for 24 hours

Serve with whatever toppings you like and enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Roll

Growing up we didn't get to see our paternal grandparents as often as we (and they) would like since they lived in California, but that didn't mean we couldn't enjoy my grandmother Meme's cooking from afar! It was guaranteed that every Christmas we would receive a package in the mail containing her specialty treats....peanut butter roll and date roll. I don't think any of the kids ever ate the date roll, but we went straight for the peanut butter roll.

Peanut butter roll is a very very sweet and rich "candy" that may need an acquired taste to fully appreciate. In fact, most people that eat it for the first time as adults don't like it that much, but Kris is always the exception to the rule and he just finished up a whole roll by himself. I have memories of making peanut butter roll with Meme one summer when I was young (and an old picture capturing the moment I will try to get scanned) and I just had the opportunity over the 4th of July weekend to learn from her once again. Kris and I went for a long weekend to San Diego to visit family, see the sights, and cook with my grandmother of course. I was able to learn how to make peanut butter roll and her famous dinner rolls, which I can't wait to post as well. Give this recipe a try if you want to give your sweet tooth a run for the money!

Peanut Butter Roll

Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/2 stick butter (softened)
1/2 t vanilla
5 to 6 c powdered sugar
Creamy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Cream together butter and cream cheese
2. Mix in vanilla
3. Gradually add powdered sugar until the mixture becomes thick and close to the consistency of playdoh. Try not to add too much powdered sugar (vague direction I know) because the more you add the more you risk the pb roll drying out. However if you plan to eat it all rather quickly like Kris, then don't worry!
4. For easiest handling, divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll out on top of wax paper to approximately 1/4 inch thick, using powdered sugar to prevent from sticking. (Try to do your best to keep it in a rectangle shape so there isn't too much excess edges to trim later)
5. Spread peanut butter in a thin layer over the whole layer of rolled out dough
6. Using the wax paper to help, start at one of the long sides of the dough and roll up tightly
7. Trim edges, then for easiest storage cut the roll in half and wrap in the already used wax paper, and again into foil.
8. The roll is ready to eat right away, but we usually refrigerate it and keep it cold. Enjoy!

There are more pictures to come of my grandmother and I making this - I just don't have them in my possession yet! :)

Sugar Cookies Part 2

Ok...I am finally getting around to posting the recipes I used for the sugar cookies. The actual cookies are courtesy of Laurie Van Schaik. I swapped out her frosting recipe though for a royal icing recipe I got from Martha Stewart. Let me know if you find yourself making decorated cookies - could come in handy for a 4th of July party!

White Velvet Cut Outs

Ingredients:
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 lb unsalted butter, softened (Laurie said she used margarine but I had a hard time with the dough I made with margarine so I am sticking with butter)
2 egg yolks
2 c. sugar
1 t vanilla
4 1/2 c flour

Directions:
1. Beat together cream cheese and butter/marg
2. Add sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla
3. Add flour and mix thoroughly
4. Chill at least one hour, but overnight is best
5. Roll dough on well-floured surface and cut in desired shapes. You will need LOTS of flour - flour the counter, your hand, rolling pin, cookie cutters, etc. Make sure dough stays cold so re-refrigerate if it gets soft and sticky. It should be somewhat tough when you are rolling it out.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 or until edges start to brown
7. Cool cookies prior to decorating (note: cookies aren't that tasty out of the oven, so hold off until you frost them)

Frosting (this is not the one I used but it is much yummier than royal icing, but not sure if it hardens like royal icing so feel free to experiment)
2 c. powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
2 T hot water
Food coloring
**Adjust water amount as needed to make frosting thin enough to "paint" on cookies. Let cookies drip dry on cooling racks

Royal Icing
2 egg whites (or 5T meringue powder)
1 box confectioners sugar
1/2 c water

Directions:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. If using egg whites, beat the egg whites a little first until bubbly then add powdered sugar.
2. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details.
3. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.
*Check out www.marthastewart.com for royal icing decorating tips and other ideas

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

(Peanut butter cup cookies on the left)

I remember eating these cookies for the first time my sophomore year of college when my friend Laney lived across the hall. Luckily for me, she was one of my roommates fall term of junior year and she shared the recipe with me. You will be amazed at how easy these cookies are, and what rave reviews you will receive. Don't reveal how easy they are to make or you will ruin the secret. :)

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients:
Chocolate chip cookie dough (Store bought break and bake is the easiest, but you can make your own too)
Mini peanut butter cups (Reeses are the best)
Mini cupcake liners

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line the mini-cupcake pans with the paper liners
3. If using the break and bake dough, cut all the squares in half to total 48 cookies (I've determined this makes the perfect amount of cookie; I think Nestle makes a mini sized break and bake, and if you are using that then don't cut in half)
4. Roll the dough squares into a small ball and place one into each liner; make a thumbprint on the cookie dough, slightly pressing down into the liner
5. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes...try not to overbake
6. While the cookies bake, unwrap the mini peanut butter cups
7. Once the cookies come out of the oven, press a peanut butter cup down into the middle of each cookie
8. Cool and enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

My latest challenge to myself has been to create cute sugar cookies. Why you ask? Here is the back story:

Bride-to-be Valerie (the cupcake lover referred to in the red velvet cake post) and I have been trying to come up with some cute party favor ideas for her friend's bachelorette party, and maybe something I could make for her wedding. Valerie is always lighting a fire under me to boost my confidence and helping me come up with baking ideas. Well, we somehow got on board with the idea of sugar cookies with her monogram.

Growing up we would always bake cookies at Christmas for Santa, but I wouldn't say any of them were ever worthy of giving to anyone who doesn't come down a chimney in the dark. Therefore, I was starting this venture with no recipe and just the archive of Martha Stewart shows in my brain where she made gorgeous cookies. Valerie and I decided we would have a girls night and attempt to make these cookies. It was fun, but we definitely didn't produce any cookies I would want to put my name on (taste or appearance). This led me to try to find other recipes, and I remembered my mom had a friend, Laurie Van Schaick, who used to always provide decorated cookies for school events. I got her recipe and set out on my own one weekend to try to make pretty cookies. This time around I had some success, and have to admit I made a pretty darn good looking cookie with Valerie's future monogram. I sent her a picture, along with anyone else who I thought might want to see it, and got the feedback that it wasn't only me who thought it was cute.

In the meantime of this cookie baking experimentation, I was gearing up to go to NC for a party to celebrate the upcoming wedding of friends Parker and Brandi. The successful monogram cookie was made the weekend before their party, so I thought I would be brave and offer to make cookies as party favors. This turns into what I call "Project Cookie." I offered up this idea 5 or 6 days before the party, after only producing ONE pretty cookie the prior weekend. I'm not sure if I was crazy, but I know I was close to it. I got home from work on Monday and starting rolling out cookies and baking them. The idiot that I am thought I would have enough leftover dough from my weekend experimentation. Turns out I only got about 15 cookies from that, and needed 60. This lead to me making the dough again, only this time I tried margarine instead of butter like Ms. Van Schaick said she did. I whipped up the dough Monday night and let it chill until Tuesday after work. I go to roll out the cookies and this dough is just plain mush - there is no way I am going to be able to cut out cookies from it so I panic and stick it in the freezer to harden up. In my panicked state, I quickly whip up another batch of dough using butter as I originally had, and throw that in the freezer as well so it can chill to be baked that night.

That night my kitchen never saw so much mess in its life. I started rolling out the dough and by the time I got the cookies cut out it was soft again so would have to stick it back in the freezer, grab another batch and repeat the process. Thank goodness I had Kris to help as this was not an easy task. I eventually got enough cookies to call it a night, so the decorating process could start on Wednesday. The decorating was fun yet stressful at the same time. I am not the most artistic person so I was nervous that all these cookies would turn out horrible. I went with the colors white, blue, and yellow, and wasn't so pleased with the way my blue and yellow worked, but that is just the perfectionist in me. I ended up getting the base layer of royal icing done on Wednesday night in 6 hours. This then had to dry a full day so I did the letters (A for Ariail, BP for Brandi and Parker) and other piping on Thursday night. The cookies then traveled with me to NC, where we tied them with bows and took them to the party Saturday night. Needless to say I was nervous that they wouldn't like them, but everyone said they were pretty (but who would say "oh what an ugly cookie"). As for the taste, most people said they were good, but I did watch one man take a bite and put it back!!!

That is the story of "Project Cookie" in a nutshell and hopefully I will have more adventures like this to share in the future. :)




*** For some reason when I upload pictures to this blog it will rotate them and I don't like that. I have lots of other pictures to post but they are all rotating themselves so this is all you get for now. If anyone knows how to fix that problem please let me know!

** Cookie recipe to come later