Bubblegum Recipes

Imagine sinking your teeth into one of these, warm and crispy and chewy fresh from the oven? Well, you can in a few easy steps!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup quick oats
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or 2 cups if omitting nuts)
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

-heat oven to 350 F
-cream butter and sugar
-add eggs & vanilla, mix well
-mix dry ingredients in separate bowl, gradually add to wet mix and mix gently
-drop by small spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet
-bake for 15 minutes, let cool on wire racks

Do not overbake or the cookies will be too crunchy!

Enjoy :-)

I finally hit paydirt and found the BEST bread machine recipe ever!

Check it out, try it out and you will NOT be disappointed! Mmm-mmm good! This is what I had for breakfast today...

Ingredients:

* 2 cups white bread flour
* 1 cup whole wheat bread flour
* 1/2 cup large-flake oatmeal, uncooked
* 2 tsp active dry yeast
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 cup honey
* 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
* 1 tsp. salt

How to:

Combine all ingredients in your bread machine as per manufacturer's instructions. Set size to 1.5 lbs, cook time is for a white plain loaf.

This recipe will make a moist, sweet and chewy bread.

Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

A phone
A take-out restaurant phone number
Some money

Method:

Pick up phone, dial number and order what your empty stomach tells you to. Wait for delivery, hand over cash and dig in!

OK, kidding... that's just for lazy people... or sticky, hot and tired people who are moving and thus have no food in the fridge or in the cupboards. We're down to surviving on cereal, sandwiches, restaurant food and leftovers that were hiding in the freezer in back of the bag of frost-bitten peas.

I'll try to be creative once I finally have a kitchen again, and a stocked pantry!

In the meantime, do stay cool with fudgesicles and iced tea.

Mmmmmmm!

Read on the innernets:

A gelatin mold should be made with Knox Unflavored Gelatin and red food coloring.

One would think that a flavorless food would not be at all difficult to swallow, but believe me, from the looks of people who inserted cold masses of gelatinous glop into a mouth that was expecting sweets, the experience is unexplainably horrifying!

Some claimed to be nauseated by the feel of it; others politely swallowed.

That's what I like to call anything eaten this time of year and involving ice-cream.

If you happen to have some fresh, sweet, juicy peaches and mangoes on hand, they're quite easy to admire cuz they're sooo pretty:

But you're hungry, so cut into cubes, set in a bowl, drizzle with maple syrup (or honey, or caramel, or anything you fancy), stir and let sit for a bit.

Then dish out some ICE-CREEAAM, spoon the fruit mixture on top, decorate with a cookie and voilà:

You can use bananas, strawberries, cherries, any fruit you have on hand - or the hell with it, just ice-cream and cookies! Yey!

Bon appétit :-)

My husband is deathly afraid of salads.

Making them, not eating them!

He thinks they're "too complicated" - wooo! Hopefully this post will help dispel any latent phobias and get everyone on the salad bandwagon. After all, what better meal to eat on a hot summer's day?

First, the vinaigrette basics:

For every 1 measure of acidity you use (lemon juice, vinegars, etc) you will need about 3 measures of oil - I like to use light-tasting extra-virgin olive oil but the choice is up to you.

Then add flavorings, herbs, spices, etc - mix well and bingo! Salad dressing!

For this salad I used lemon juice, olive oil, pureed garlic, dijon mustard, manuka honey and cracked black pepper. Just keep stirring and tasting until you have the consistency and flavor you're looking for.

Fresh croutons are always nice:

If you have any stale leftover bread you'd like to get rid of, now's a perfect time!

Cut bread into large cubes and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine a bit of your favorite oil, add flavorings (I like to use garlic powder, fresh cracked pepper and Mrs Dash, any flavor), mix well, add the bread and stir to coat evenly.

Now, for the salad basics:

Wash your chosen lettuce(s) under cold running water, spin or squeeze dry and shred into bite-sized chunks. Add your vinaigrette, toss well, then layer onto serving plates.

Add the toppings of your choice and be prepared for the ooohs and aaaahs, specially if served with a glass of vino!


A note on lettuce: never, ever use Iceberg unless it's destined to top up a taco. Really. It shouldn't even be called a lettuce as it has zero nutritional value and almost no taste. Be the Titanic and stay awaaaay from the Iceberg!

Bon appétit!

Beware: très addictive and about a gazillion calories per serving but who gives a damn! BEST DUMPLINGS EVAR!

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced in half
1/2 cup butter, more or less
1/2 cup brown sugar, more or less
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon & nutmeg, to taste
1/2 can regular Mountain Dew

Pop the can of Crescent Rolls open and cover the apple pieces to make sealed bundles of love. Place in a greased glass oven dish, packed close together but not squished.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add enough brown sugar to make a liquidy paste. Add the vanilla & spices, keep stirring until smoooth and creamy.

Spoon the hot liquid evenly over the apple dumplings, then gently pour the Mountain Dew over the lot. Stick inside a 350F oven for about 40 to 45 minutes, until brown and bubbly... let cool for a bit then serve with vanilla ice cream.

"Broth!" you say - what's so complicated about making broth?

Nothing! It's super easy and practically fail-proof if you follow a few basic principles:

Use bones with marrow, preferably with some meat still attached (think of using skinned chicken legs or beef shanks)

Add a couple onions (with the skin!) or a bunch of dark green leek leaves

Add some celery leaves, a carrot, a hot chili... anything you like

Add some sprigs of fresh herbs (dill, thyme, basil, whatever you fancy)

Add some peppercorns and some salt or a bit of bouillon (I only use Better Than Bouillon products)

Bring to a boil and let gently simmer for a couple of hours, turn off heat and let cool with the cover still on. When lukewarm, pass through a sieve and complete the cooling in an airtight container in your fridge.

If you used fatty meat, you will find that the fat formed a white film on top of the cold bouillon - I like to discard most of this fat to keep the broth lean but still tasty, but it's up to you.

As if three blogs weren't enough... I'm launching a fourth one!

*shakes head*

I cannot promise regular updates here but will try to post one or two recipes a week if all goes well. Sound good?

Cool :-)

Once my camera is back from the shop you'll get pics of the actual recipes since I intend to cook a lot in my new kitchen... once we've moved... in three weeks! w00t! In the meantime you get this: