Sunday, February 27, 2011

Next project

I've been doing some research in the pastry area and have tumbled upon Cream Buns which are butter based golden buns filled with freshly whipped cream and topped off with powdered sugar. These treats go nicely with a cup of coffee.

Can't you just picture that? A nice breezy, sunny afternoon under a huge yellow umbrella seated outside of cafe sipping a nice cup of coffee or tea and eating a cream bun. (Mouth is getting watery just describing the scene!)

Note to self: I must make these cream buns soon or it will be the only think I'll be thinking about for days!!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Christmas Spirit!

I have established a little tradition every Christmas which is to make cookies during the holiday season. (Just a little excusebof mine to bake abundant cookies! :P) Christmas '10 I made this chocolate chip cookies decorated with colored frosting in shapes of Christmas trees, hearts, and star/flower. People may think making cookies are easy and simple, but I've been baking since I was little and never really found the perfect recipe until just a few months ago from the JoyOfBaking.com


They look so yummy!!
In the process of making red frosting! It looks kind of like a candy cane! (:
My first decorated tree! Can't you just feel the Christmas Spirit!! (:
Here's my Christmas Spirit Christmas tree (:

Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: JoyOfBaking

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grs) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grs) granulated white sugar
3/4 cup (160 grs) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsps pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (295 grs) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups (270 grs) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (100 grs) walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) with rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the white and brown sugars and beat until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated, adding the chocolate chips and nuts (if using) about half way through mixing. If you find the dough very soft, cover and refrigerate until firm (from 30 minutes to two hours).

For large cookies, use about a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop or with two spoons, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough (35 grams) onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake about 10 - 14 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Cool completely on wire rack.


Makes about 4 dozen - 3 inch round cookies

Note: You can freeze this dough. Form the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze and then place the balls of dough in a plastic bag, seal, and freeze. When baking, simply place the frozen balls of dough on a baking sheet and bake as directed - may have to increase baking time a few minutes.



Credits to:
 

Friday, February 25, 2011

Blog Mode: ON .. and running!!

I really had no idea how to start my blog, but I wanted one so badly so I went blog searching for ideas and I ran in to The Girl Who Ate Everything. This is Christy's site of recipes and her experience with food and it got me inspired. I could relate to it so much. So, I decided to try one of the recipes. Stuffed Pizza Rolls and to tell you the truth.. I loved it!!.

Here's my experience with it:

Here are the rolls stuffed and resting.


Rolls decorated with butter, garlic, and oregano and ready for the oven!!


Fresh out of the oven with a nice color! Yummy!!


Since the 1st trail turned out so good..
.. I made plenty more!!

The following recipe is from OurBestBites.com 

Stuffed Pizza Rolls
by OurBestBites

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
marinara/pizza sauce
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
mozzerella cheese, diced or grated (diced is the least messy to use when stuffing the rolls)

Pizza toppings of your choice: for example, ham and pineapple, pepperoni slices, sausage, etc.

I used pepperoni and mushrooms, along with shredded mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400 degrees. If you make your own dough, 400 is usually a good heat as well.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. Just eyeball how much. You just need to be able to enclose the toppings in the dough so keep that in mind. *Don't put marinara in the rolls. Save it for dipping.

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.
Cook them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them! Doughs vary, so I'd check them after even 10 minutes.

Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.


                                    Credits to: 


Photobucket              

My first post! Yaay!

Ok,
So here's the deal, I finally convinced myself to open my long-waited-blog. I've been wanting to do this since quite a while and I never really got it working. It's funny how I got "inspired" to finally open this blog. My little brother boasting about how he is writing for his friend's blog and I was like.. if a 15 year old can do it, so can I!! It still makes me laugh thinking about how it got started, but oh well.. Thank God I did it! :D

I'm planning to make my blog fun and nice and totally me!! Trying to focus only on crafting and food, but I can't help it if I stumble upon some interesting trends in music, fashion, art, etc..

I promise in no time I'll fill up this page with really nice recipes and craft work!

I'm so excited!!

Enjoy! (=

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