Jamie’s Recipes

This recipe is a first for me, it is the first time I was successful making candy. The last time I tried boiling sugar I burned it. I burned it badly. I actually had to throw away the pot because the sugar had scorched the bottom. This time around I did not leave the room, I did not quit stirring, and I actually used a thermometer which my eyes never left. As soon as the temperature reached 300 degrees F, I turned off the burner and removed the pot promptly.  Heath Bars are one of my favorite candy bars, and I really wanted to succeed in making them at home. I may have actually danced with joy when I sampled these. Delicious chocolate and buttery toffee meet, and it is love.

Have faith dear reader, you can make these yourself. You need to be patient and keep a watchful eye on the candy thermometer. Some people (more experienced than I) can do this without the trusty thermometer. If that is you congratulations. The sugar mixture will turn a lovely caramely brown when it is done. Or if you are like me and prone to burning sugar when you try to do it by “eyeing it” it is done when the thermometer reaches 300 degrees F.

These toffee bars should be added to your holiday treat platter. Make them for your family, make them for your friends, make them for your neighbors, and snitch some for yourself. Wrap them up in pretty paper and give them as gifts.

CHOCOLATE COVERED TOFFEE “HEATH BARS”
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
2 T water
1/2 c chopped pecans
2 c chocolate chips

Line a jelly roll pan with foil. Lightly grease the foil, and set aside. Melt butter, sugars, and water in a heavy sauce pan over a medium high heat. Using your candy thermometer monitor the sugar temperature. Stir constantly until it becomes a carmely brown color and the temperature reaches 300 degrees F, turn off burner and remove pan, stir in pecans (I forgot this step so I sprinkled them on top once they were covered in chocolate). Pour sugar mixture onto jelly roll pan and spread out. Wait a couple minutes as the sugar cools and the toffee begins to set.

Using a pizza cutter slice toffee into desired size. Let cool completely. (As you can see in the top left corner my daughters and I had to sample the plain toffee. It was amazing )

Once toffee is completely cooled and hard, gently break apart into individual pieces. Put chocolate into a double broiler and melt gently. Drop one piece of toffee in at a time, cover completley with chocolate, shaking excess off, and place onto parchment paper to cool completely and have the chocolate set.

If you want to sprinkle with chopped nuts do so before the chocolate cools. ENJOY!

Becoming a food blogger has caused my children to want to pose with the food. They are some silly girls!

I went back to my parent’s house for Mother’s Day weekend, and I asked my dad to give me a tour of the garden. I grabbed my camera and a notebook to jot notes. I’ve got a list of almost everything they have planted (26 different things will be planted), and photos of everything that has broke through the ground. It was so fun hearing my dad talk about his garden; it seems he is really enjoying this hobby –as long as it doesn’t interfere too much with his tee time, I imagine. Mom and Dad have planted a LOT of produce this spring. Dad is reading a gardening book, and he said that there is so much more he could plant if he wanted to, I have no doubts. Keep checking in as the plants begin to bare fruit (or veggies).

The List and Photos- Part One
Potatoes -460 hills or 50 pounds of seed potatoes

Next to the potatoes are Yellow Onions -60 plants

Green Beans -1 package –it is barely poking through the ground

Red Beets -half a package –they have just broken ground too

Click here for some of the first photos from the garden.

You can follow up on the garden with part two here.

Take note fathers and children, Mother’s Day is quickly approaching. Do you want to serve your mother or wife breakfast in bed? Bless your heart! These breakfast cups take little effort to put together, and they can be personalized to your family’s flavor preferences. In the bottom of my cups I have colby-jack cheese and bacon, you could substitute any meat or cheese you would like. I left my egg whole, but you could lightly beat it and stir in some chopped veggies, which would be delicious. Using crescent rolls from the refrigerated section at your local grocery store make this breakfast a cinch. Have fun coming up with your favorite meat, cheese, veggie combos! I think these would also be cute for a bridal shower or baby shower brunch. Yum!

BREAKFAST CUPS
Serves 4

1 package crescent rolls
4 eggs
2 pieces bacon, cooked
cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 4 muffin tins. Unroll crescent rolls, pinch together two triangles and fit to muffin tin. Place a little cheese and half a slice to bacon in bottom of crescent-lined muffin tin. Carefully add egg. Cook for 10-15 minutes. You want the crescent roll to become golden brown and the egg to be set. ENJOY!

I love Mexican cuisine, from traditional “comida muy authentico” to TexMex. If it is labeled Mexican food, chances are I will love it –unless it is Carlos O’Kelly’s, that place is an embarrassment to Mexican food lovers. I think the only thing good on their menu is their margaritas.

A quick history about Cinco de Mayo: It is NOT Mexico’s Independence Day (that is Sept 16), but it is a holiday celebrating Mexico’s defeat of a larger and better equiped French army at the Battle of Puebla back in 1862.

Here in the United States Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican culture, with food, drinks and dancing. I think Cinco de Mayo is a day for us Americans to be as Mexican as we are Irish on St. Patrick’s day. I love to eat, drink, and if I’ve had enough to drink you may even catch me dancing; so this is a favorite “holiday” for me.

Here are some of my favorite tried and true Mexican recipes that I hope you will try for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta. Feliz cinco de Mayo!

MEXICAN TORTAS

BEER AND LIME CHICKEN FAJITAS

Recipe for delicious Mexican ground beef.

A yummy and easy margarita recipe.

This year has gone by so quickly. Every year since I got married there has been something big happen, this year it was a big move. We loaded up all our belongings and said goodbye to Cedar Falls/Waterloo, IA (which was my home since August 2001) and moved our family to Omaha, NE. We are really enjoying Omaha, and being only two hours away from family.

I am excited to see what 2009 will bring (hopefully a new house by the end of the year). This new years eve I am celebrating it quietly with my husband and little girls. Today I have been thinking about resolutions, since it is so common to make them this time of year. Last year I wanted to lose weight, and I did really well with that resolution. I lost twenty-five pounds, TWENTY-FIVE lbs in 2008. That was all the baby weight I gained with Penelope. This year I am not going to resolve to lose more weight, although a little bit would be nice. Some of my resolutions include finding a church that will meet the needs of my family, develop and maintain a healthier lifestyle, and learn to cook vegan/vegetarian dishes.

I have been so blessed in 2008 and I look forward to what God has in store for 2009. Have a SAFE New Year!

Last week we had a cookie decorating play date. We had so much fun decorating our gingerbread people and our sugar cookies. Many cookies were “lost” during the decorating process. Our little friend M concentrated so hard on completely covering her Christmas tree cookie in yellow frosting that I don’t think she decorated that many cookies. Sasha and Penelope were more into eating the cookies than worrying about whether or not they were adequately covered in frosting.

I found my sugar cookie recipe on one of my favorite blogs (Pinch My Salt). Nicole made her recipe for Halloween cookies. She uses powdered sugar and a tiny bit of almond extract, which I believe makes these cookies the BEST COOKIES EVER! I will be using this recipe for my Christmas cookies from now on; I may even use them for my Valentine’s day cookies, St. Patrick’s day cookies, April Fool’s day cookies, and every other holiday they are THAT good. Thank-you Nicole, we now have a family favorite that I am sure is going to become a tradition. I am sure her recipe for cream cheese frosting is lovely, however I decided to use a powdered sugar frosting that would harden. You must make these cookies, at least once. ENJOY!

Check out her recipe here.

If you want to read more about our gingerbread people check it out here.

Here are some photos of our decorating.

Here is M concentrating so hard on her yellow Christmas tree.

Sasha enjoying her hard work!

Penelope ate her cookie so fast. I told you these cookies were good!

Here are some of our sugar cookies and gingerbread people.

Here is M’s cookie that she worked so hard on. More sprinkes ended up on the plate than the cookie, oh well.

This year I made real gingerbread people. Last year I made them from a dry mix I bought in a box. The real deal is no comparison, these little cookie people get better each day. The girls and I had some friends over for a cookie decorating extravaganza. I think everyone involved had lots of fun. I told the girls that we were going to “paint” the cookies with frosting, this excited Sasha (2 1/2) and our friend M (almost 2). We used popsicle sticks as our paintbrushes, which worked wonderfully for our needs. The cookies may not win any awards for beautiful design, but I think they are the best looking gingerbread cookies I’ve ever seen.

My girls kept eating the cookies. As you can see Sasha hardly has any frosting on her cookie, just enough to say she frosted it.

I got the recipe from Martha Stewart’s website, and it was delicious. This week I will be making more gingerbread people for our families. We also made cut out sugar cookies, I will post the recipe tomorrow.

Martha’s Gingerbread People

The frosting is a powdered sugar, a tiny splash of vanilla, and a splash of milk. I used Wilton’s Icing Color in red, blue, green and yellow.

Tis the season for stuffing our faces. Sounds pretty doesn’t it? From October 1 until January 1 is when my willpower is tested constantly.  In October I had celebrated  three years of marriage with my husband, two birthdays (next year it will be three), and Halloween. November brought three Thanksgiving dinners (eek!), now December we celebrated my SIL’s 30th birthday, and we will have a Christmas Eve dinner and three Christmas dinners. Now I wish I could say that I did not over indulge; I did however, try to eat consciously. It must have worked because the first time in a long time I am actually losing weight during this long holiday season (WOOP WOOP!).

We currently live in an apartment that does not allow for entertaining the whole family, so until I am able to host my first holiday meal, I will have to bring something to the dinner table that I know will not completely sabotage my waist line. These pumpkin bars are fabulous if I do say so myself, and they are a dessert that isn’t going to ruin your diet.  This recipe was emailed to me from Sparkpeople.com recipe of the day. These bars are delicious and moist, a great alternative to pumpkin pie. No one will know that they only have 67 calories per serving if you don’t tell them! ENJOY!

PUMPKIN BARS
serves: 48

2 cups flour
1-1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup light butter or margarine, softened (I used Smart Balance)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
1 cup carrot, finely shredded

Cream cheese topping:
4 oz light cream cheese, softened (I used fat free)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk

DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10 jellyroll pan.
Prepare Filling:
In small bowl: combine flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder & baking soda.
In larger bowl: Beat sugar, butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie mix and carrots. Beat until well blended. Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
Prepare Cream Cheese topping:
Mix together cream cheese, sugar and milk until thoroughly blended.
Drop teaspoonfuls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl mixture with a butter knife.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tester (inserted in center) comes out clean.
Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into 48 squares.

NUTRITION INFO (per serving)
Calories: 67.2
Fat: 0.9 g
Carbohydrates: 13.6 g
Protein: 1.4 g

What’s more American than apple pie? Apple pie is probably one of my favorites pies. There are all sorts of variations of this pie. You can find double crust, lattice top, strudel top, crumble top and so on. I have never made my own pie crust, this is something I want to try and have several recipes bookmarked. For this pie, I used store bought pie crust, the kind you unroll and place in your pie dish. I did however, make my own studel topping. This is a great dish to serve during the holidays.

APPLE PIE WITH STRUDEL TOPPING
1 (9 inch) pie shell
5 cups apples (it is nice to use a variety)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

STRUDEL TOPPING
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Unroll pastry shell into pie pan and place in freezer. Place peeled, cored and sliced apples in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine 2 tablespoons flour, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Toss with apples until they are evenly coated. Remove pie shell from freezer. Place apple mixture in pie shell. Cover lightly with a sheet of aluminum foil, do not seal. Bake 10 minutes.

Make Strudel Topping: Combine flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and oats. Mix thoroughly, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Remove filling from oven and sprinkle strudel on top.

Reduce heat to 375 degrees F. Bake pie 35 to 40 minutes, until strudel is browned. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning.

Five Generations
Great Grandma Bonnie, Sasha, Grandma Michelle
Great Great Grandma Dorothy, Penelope, Momma Jamie

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. You may think you have a great mother, but you probably haven’t met my mom. I have the WORLD’S BEST MOM. My mom stayed home to raise her three children. When I was a child she ran a small in home daycare to generate extra income. She sacrificed selflessly to ensure her children were happy, and that we had what we needed. She provided an example of a loving Christian wife and mother. She is my role model. Happy Mother’s Day mom, I love you.