Gadgets and Tools - Measuring Cups and Spoons Part 2

Earlier this year I posted about measuring cups and spoons. It was dream (yes, really, my dream) to find a set that included non-standard amounts. Well, folks, I have finally found it!

While on a road trip to Oregon, my husband graciously conceded to an outlet store shopping trip. While there I found a great kitchen supply store. I wandered and day dreamed as I always do in those stores. I made my way to the gadgets section and after staring at foldable funnels for a while and wondering if I would ever need one, a large box caught my eye. I was this close to freaking out inside the store. It was a 19 piece measuring set that included all the unique measuring sizes. 2/3 cups, 1 1/2 cups, 2 cups! There were even little spoons for a smidge, a pinch, and a dash. So cute. The kicker was that they even matched the color scheme in my kitchen. Sealed the deal.

The set is made by Progressive. I find their stuff at all the usual places, Bed Bath and Beyond or Fred Meyer. But I have yet to find something as awesome as this. Here is a link to their website if you want to more information. The picture is from their website.

I also got ramekins and a new pie plate on sale. With my plans to make pies more often this has come in handy. Best. Shopping Trip. Ever.

Having a second set, especially one with unusual sizes, has totally changed the way I bake. I am so beyond excited about this!

Happy Baking!

Pie for Ryan!

Ryan is taking the GRE tomorrow. In honor of the start to his new adventure, I made his favorite: blackberry pie!

I used the crust and filling recipe from when I made this for his birthday. This time around I used less sugar for the topping. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar but I actually used less than a 1/2 tsp. I also sprinkled the top with cinnamon. I still need to perfect my crimping method, but I'll get there. I do love the little star vent I made on this one!

Good luck, husband! So proud of you!

Mom's Meatloaf

Most of my posts have been about dessert baking. Well, not everything that goes into the oven is for dessert. One of my favorite things to bake is meatloaf. There are very few other things as easy and as quick as this recipe. Plus, I love the fact that it comes from the 1969 Betty Crocker cookbook. The flavors have stood the test of time in my family. I grew up with this recipe and it has now become a part of my dinner repertoire. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

All of the ingredients are things I normally stock in my pantry so I find this to be something that is really easy to whip up if I feel like it. I find it best to start with fresh ground beef. I often buy ground beef and freeze it but last night I bought some from the grocery store and it was just so much easier. I also use Panko breadcrumbs. I haven't experimented much with different breadcrumbs but Panko has treated me pretty well.

There are several different spices in this recipe. You can see the suggested measurements below. I prefer to add a 1/2 tsp instead of just a 1/4 tsp of each spice. I really want to play around with different measurements and maybe different spices at some point but I like this recipe so much I have yet to experiment with it.

My favorite side dishes to this meatloaf are mashed potatoes (made with light sour cream and butter. Yum!) and green beans. And of course, a nice tall glass of milk. I sure do love my comfort food! 

Mom's Meatloaf

1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook 

(with Kara's notes)

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs (I use Panko)

2/3 cup milk (skim milk offers a healthier option)

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp minced onion (something I always have in my pantry!)

1/2 tsp salt (I am tempted to try my smoked sea salt next time. Got it at Trader Joe's and it's amazing!)

1/2 to 1/2 tsp of each:

Black pepper

Dry mustard

Celery salt

Garlic salt (I love using a 1/2 tsp of each. You can always revise the measurements depending on what flavors you want to go for and even play around with adding other spices.)

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

ketchup for "glaze"

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. (getting your hands dirty is so much fun! Be sure to wash well with soap afterwards. Raw beef - eww.)

Shape into loaf in shallow pan. (I also line my pan with tin foil. Makes for a super easy clean up. Spray with a cooking spray to keep the meatloaf from sticking to the foil.)

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread with ketchup. (I always eyeball this.)

Return loaf to oven and bake for an additional 45 minutes to an hour.

Happy Baking!

Cupcakes for my friend

Today was my friend Michelle's birthday and I surprised her by bringing mini versions of my marshmallow cupcakes to choir rehearsal. It was so much fun to love on my friend. She gets crazy about cooking like I do about baking. She has great ideas about creative and healthy cooking. I am ashamed to say that I have yet to tap into that awesomeness but I sense a collaboration in our future.

Michelle, you are a dear friend, a great mom, and a loving wife. I am so thankful for you. I love that we can talk all evening (much to your husband's chagrin. We get through practice eventually, right?!) about anything and everything from clothes to God's grace to baby food and back to what it means to be a Godly wife. The deep stuff, the simple stuff, and everything in between. Thank you for your friendship, your encouragement, and your wisdom. I can't wait to cook and bake with you! Happy birthday!

Baking Craze

Last week I was on a baking spree. And. I. Loved. It. I got to try several new recipes (one was for strawberry sorbet, which wasn't really baking but it turned out amazing and I can't wait to add shortbread cookies!). I think I was most excited about keeping my kitchen clean every night but by Friday that momentum was lost. Oh well.

One of the recipes I finally tried was Martha Stewart's Banana Bread. This was my first attempt at banana bread. It turned out great. I feel like banana bread is a key recipe in any home baker's arsenal. It is a great option for when you leave bananas too long and you don't want to throw them out.

The recipe I used was really easy to follow and the bread smelled amazing while baking in the oven. I liked that the banana flavor wasn't overpowering but still present.  I made sure that the bananas were really well mashed; I didn't want any banana chunks in my bread. There really isn't anything wrong with that, I just don't prefer it. I took a bit to work and it was gone super fast!

Next time I want to try adding either chocolate chips or a cream cheese frosting. Ryan drizzled chocolate syrup over his slice which was really yummy. But I also like the idea of adding a creamy frosting on top. It's fun to daydream about how to change recipes to make them something special.

I had great feedback from my taste testing of the Toasted Marshmallow Cupcakes that I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the baby shower. I added just little bit more cocoa powder, maybe less than a tablespoon. I also added 2/3 cups chocolate chips. I might be able to add a bit more next time but my goal was to make the cupcake nice and chocolately, not chunky. The marshmallow topping was easier the second time around. I also added pieces of cinnamon graham crackers as decoration. And by chance I found blue cupcake liners while grocery shopping and they were perfect for a baby boy shower.

Now that I have the cake part more to my liking I really want to experiment with a marshmallow frosting. There are a few recipes out there that I want to try. The trick will be getting a kitchen torch so I can toast the edges. Anyone who knows me will be quite concerned and let me just say right now: Yes, there is a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and yes I will read the directions thoroughly before attempting any baking with a kitchen torch.

It was a great week of baking and I have so much more that I am planning for the blog. Stay tuned for some great baking interviews and advice from some of the amazing women in my life.

Happy Baking!

Trial runs = success!

I don't always have the time to do trial runs. I often find myself either just experimenting for fun whenever I have an open schedule or rushing to complete something in time for wherever I'm going (like when I didn't have time to complete the lemon bars before a bridal shower. See my adventure here.).

Well, this Saturday I get to celebrate the coming of a special baby boy and his beautiful mother. I was honored with the request to make a dessert. I researched online for various recipes and spent several lunch breaks absorbed in cupcake and baby shower websites. I had thought of doing something with blue frosting but the idea of everyone walking around with blue mouths wasn't very appetizing. I finally decided on toasted marshmallow cupcakes from Martha Stewart. What boy doesn't love s'mores! (Ok, even though he's not here yet I figured we could honor his "boyness" by having these s'mores cupcakes) I had everything but the marshmallows in my pantry so I figured it would be an easy recipe to try!

I was so excited when I went home last night that I decided to do a trial run for the first time. I cleaned the kitchen and got dinner ready. I was so surprised to find myself energized for an evening of baking. The ingredients were easy to mix and the instructions easy to follow. The only tricky part was to make sure the marshmallows stayed on the cupcakes when I put them back in the oven to broil the tops. Once I got that figured out it was a cinch! The cupcakes turned out beautifully.

I brought the cupcakes to work for a taste test and they got rave reviews. I think I have some adjustments to make for Saturday but all in all I am very happy with the results. I can't wait to experiment more with this recipe and have something special like this in my repertoire.

Happy Baking!

What's in season

Spring is finally here! I am so excited to start baking new things. My goal this year is to focus on what is in season and bake with those ingredients. I have found several websites that are very helpful.

Epicurious has a great interactive map that shows you what is in season in your state during a certain month (I wasn't able to find anything on year-round produce). This is really helpful for cooking, as well. At this site you can find a description and definition as well as tips on how to pick out what produce is best. They also have a list of recipes and cooking and storing tips. The site is very easy to navigate. I also love their phone app for searching for recipes (thank you for the tip, Cherri Seese!). The app home page was recently updated to show Spring and Easter dishes.

Fruits and Veggies More Matters is another great site for researching what is in season. They also have a list of year-round produce. The site includes tips how to select and how to store produce but they also have great nutritional information on each item. The website has a lot more information and tools that I would encourage you to check out (I'm looking forward to digging further into the Healthy Meal Planning Guide!).

I love Martha Stewart's Seasonal Produce Recipe Guide. There is a short intro to the produce item, how to select and store, etc. And then it jumps right into recipes. There are so many to get inspired by (there are 40 recipes alone for rhubarb!).

These are just a few sites that have caught my eye. With their inspiration I have lots on the baking to-do list this week. I can't wait to share what happens!