Cheddar Pear Pie

I've realized that I'm really not a very good food photographer... If I remember to take pictures at all, they always turn out blurry or washed out.  I guess that allows you to use your imagination to think about how amazing all of these recipes taste, rather than relying on my pictures!

We all know that fruit tastes better when it's in season, fresh and local.  This pie is no exception to that rule.  Mac's mom bakes this pie every year, but she has the advantage of free access to a pear orchard.  Her fruit literally goes from the tree to the pan!

Being the logical person that I am, I decided to bake this for Easter dessert. Considering that it's Spring and I used store-bought, under-ripe pears, I had low expectations for this pie.  Surprisingly, it was delicious! The pears were the perfect texture, not too hard, not too mushy, and the perfect hint of sweetness.  The cheddar cheese in the topping is the perfect compliment to the mild pear flavor.  It was definitely a hit!

Ingredients

Pie:
4 large ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 c. sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
1 - 9" unbaked pastry shell (if you need a pie crust recipe, click here for Grama's famous one!)

Topping:

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

In a bowl, combine pears, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  Pour over pastry shell.  For the topping, mix together the butter, flour, salt, and sugar and stir well.  Add the shredded cheese and mix until incorporated.  Sprinkle over the pears.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes (you may want to cover the crust with foil to prevent burning).  Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Triple Layer Monster



Photo Cred: Jason Swank

Everything about this dessert says, "Oh, I found it Pinterest!" I like to label it "pinteresque".  I was looking for a special birthday dessert for our friend who has a healthy love for classic sweets (cookies, brownies, and oreos).  This was absolutely the winner.  How can you go wrong when you combine all three of his favorite delectables?
So what is it, you ask? Exactly what Jason loves. Chocolate Chip Coookie dough, covered with a layer of whole (Double Stuf) Oreos, covered with a layer of Brownie Batter.  Every bite is ooey, gooey, sweet, deliciousness. 

What really sealed the deal was the Double Stuf. What's your take on the perfect amount of filling inside America's favorite chocolate cookie sandwich?  I personally, prefer the classic, but Mr. Birthday Boy loves the Double Stuf, and still advocates for a Quadruple Stuf.  To show just how much we appreciate the guy, I sacrificed my idea of perfection to appease him... his only critique of this dessert was that it would be better with a little more oreo creme. Ah, well, you can't win 'em all, huh?

Anyway, enough babbling... all you really want is to know how to make this crazy thing! I adapted the recipe (just slightly) from a blog called Kevin and Amanda.  They have a great assortment of recipes - go check them out for more delicious ideas!

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips
1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos
1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix (I recommend Ghiradeli!) plus ingredients needed to make the mix

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Top with a layer of Oreos.
6. Mix together brownie mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes.
7. Let cool completely before cutting — brownies may still be gooey in the middle when still warm, but will set up perfectly once cooled.

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Hello?

Well, hello. Let me re-introduce myself. My name is Mikaela, and I'm that girl that used to share delicious, aboriginal recipes with you. That girl who used to be dedicated to the art of cooking and writing and used to narrate my kitchen adventures to you once upon a time.  Remember me?

That same girl, me, apologizes profusely if you are a regular bloggower (Blog follower - just made that up!).  Granted, I think I'm flattering myself a little too much to think I actually have "regulars". At any rate, I still am sorry for neglecting this simple little cooking journal for so very long.  And as a symbol of my remorse, please enjoy my favorite flowers:

Okay, okay, I know that's a weak apology. To embellish it a bit, I have many great excuses as to why I've been MIA for the last two months... ready?

1. The sun was shining.
2. My car exploded.
3. Mom and Dad are fantastic cooks.
4. Mac is a really busy genius.
5. All my energy is magnetized to my adorable pseudo-nephew.

No good? Ah, well, at least they're all true. Stories for a different day on a different blog, I suppose.

Confession: I went two months without making a real meal.

Also true.

The truth is, I've just been busy. So there.

So, to make up for it get ready for a bundle of recipes coming your way.  I mean it. Soups, breads, cookies, and the motherload of freezer-meal posts! Here's what you have to look forward to (in no particular order):

• Quinoa with Corn and Pecans
• Roasted Salmon, Grape Tomatoes, and Leeks with Sparkling Wine Sauce
• Turkey Meatball Chili
• Meatier Meatloaf
• Herbed Spaghetti Squash
• Pull-apart Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread
• Chai Cookies with Pumpkin Kisses

Stay tuned!

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Roasted Red Pepper Gazpacho

I've never had chilled soup.  I have to admit I was super skeptical.  So refreshing!

Ingredients:

2 oven-roasted red bell peppers
2 large ripe beefsteak-type tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1" pieces
1 small onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups tomato juice
1 slice day-old whole wheat bread, crust trimmed
1 tbsp. white-wine vinegar
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 c. finely diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup finely diced red radish
1/2 c. finely diced seeded cucumber
1 hard-cooked egg, chilled and finely chopped

Directions:

To roast the peppers: cut the peppers in half lengthwise, brush with oil, and bake on a baking sheet at 425 degrees until soft, 30 minutes.  Place peppers in bowl, cover, and let steam 10 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, remove the skin and seed the peppers.

Whirl the roasted peppers, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a blender or food processor until pureed.  Pass the mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl.  Discard the solids.  Return to the blender or food processor.

Add the juice, bread, and vinegar.  Whirl until the soup is smooth.  With the motor running, drizzle in the oil until well blended.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Pour the gazpacho into a container, cover, and refrigerate for 8 to 25 hours to chill and allow the flavors to meld.

Divide the soup among 4 bowls.  Place the green pepper, radish, cucumber, and egg in individual small bowls and pass them to add to the soup.

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Candied Bacon and Chocolate Chip Cookie Pies

Brynna is a genius. 

Really.

Bacon, cooked with brown sugar and cayenne pepper.

Chocolate chip cookies, in individual pie form.  

Together.

Genius.

Thank you, Brynna! We love you (for more reasons than just this creation)!

Candied Bacon

Ingredients:
8 slices thin-sliced bacon
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and put a wire cooling rack on it.  Combine brown sugar and pepper.  Lay bacon on the wire rack and coat with half of the brown sugar mixture.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, flip bacon and cover with the remaining sugar.  Bake for 4-6 more minutes or until bacon is nicely browned.  Let cool about 15 minutes before trying to cut.


Chocolate- Chip Cookie Pies:
1 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 c. candied bacon

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add in flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and stir until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and candied bacon.  Press dough into 6 ramekins, filling 3/4 of the way full.  You can either use 6 more ramekins or make the rest into cookies.  I put the remaining dough into the freezer.

Bake the pies at 350 degrees for 13-17 minutes, until golden brown, but still slightly gooey in the middle.  Serve immediately (let cool slightly so you don't scald your mouth like me).  Best warm with vanilla ice cream melting all over it!

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Baked Potato Grilled Cheese

Homemade Whole-Wheat Bread.

Cheddar Cheese.

Green Onions.

Thin-Sliced Baker Potatoes, Pan-fried for 4 minutes on each side.

Bacon.

Cheddar Cheese.

Homemade Whole-Wheat Bread.

Baked. Potato. Grilled. Cheese.

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Bagels

Mac wanted bagels for his school lunches, so instead of going out and buying some, I made them. Crazy, I know. Quite simple, really... just a little time consuming. After they cool, I cut them all in half and freeze so they will last us a while.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 packages active dry yeast

1 1/2 c. warm water

3 T. white sugar

1 T. salt

1 T. molasses

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt together, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes. Then, by hand, mix in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Cut into 8 or 10 portions, shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise until doubled, about an hour.
4. Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of molasses in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering.
5. When the bagels are ready, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 7 minutes, turning once. Drain them. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, eat hot or cold.
6. Broiling option: For a glossier surface, place raised bagels on an ungreased baking sheet prior to boiling them. Broil them five inches from heat for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Then put them into the hot water to be boiled as above. Note: do not bake broiled bagels as long as non-broiled ones, 25 minutes should be long enough.

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Mama 'Blicky's Easy Cookies

Easy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with tin foil

Place saltine crackers on sheet in rows to cover bottom

Bring to a boil over medium heat 1 1\2 sticks butter and 1 cup brown sugar

Boil for 5-7 min or the "hard crack" stage on a candy thermometer)

This is the toughest part if you don't have a candy thermometer, cause every stove is a little different, if it starts to smell like its burning take it off. 

Pour butter and brown sugar mixture over the saltines and spread evenly

Place sheet in 350 degree oven for 5 min

Take out of oven

Pour 1\2 of a 10-12oz choc chip package and 1\2 of a 10-12oz peanut butter chip package (or however much you desire) over the cookie sheet mixture. 

Then spread evenly with a knife as it softens and melts (takes a min or two to melt before you can spread it)

Refrigerate 1 hr and break into chunks

And ENJOY!!!  

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Cake Batter Truffles

These require no words. Just eat.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. yellow cake mix
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. milk

Coating:
16 oz. white chocolate chips
4 Tbsp. yellow cake mix

Directions:
Beat together butter and sugar until combined.  Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly.  Add 3 Tbsp. of milk or more to make a dough consistency. (I used 4 Tbsp, and then let my KitchenAid run for a few minutes to form the dough).  Add sprinkles if desired.  Roll dough into 1" balls and place on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet.  Chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

While dough is chilling, melt white chocolate until smooth (I used the microwave and stirred every 30 seconds; took about 1 1/2 minutes).  Mix in cake mix until incorporated completed.  Using a fork, dip the truffles into the melted chocolate and shake off any excess.  Place truffles back on cookie sheet and let harden.  Makes about 24-30 truffles.

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Christmas Tree

So, technically, this isn't a recipe post...

... sorry...

it's sort of related to food.

Sort of.

Tomato cages is "sort of related to food", right?

Okay, it's a stretch.

Anyways... I just really wanted to share this cute and frugal decorating idea, as we get in the Christmas spirit!

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree! 

Ha.

Not sure if I love it or not, but it's cute. =)

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Surprise Success!

What a spread.

Last weekend, we hosted a surprise 30th anniversary party for my parents.  It was a HUGE success.  Over 30 people came and honored the happy couple, and to top it off, Mom and Dad had no idea that we had this planned! I served brunch theme food, including Bacon Quiche Tarts and Quiche Lorraine Muffins.  I know it looks like a lot of work, but there are two tricks: 1. Bake almost everything on a free day and freeze.  2. Don't be afraid of store-bought delights.

Besides the recipes mentioned above, we also had:

• Whole Wheat Banana Bread
• Ham & Cheese Bake
• Veggie Dip
• Fruit Dip
• Brownies (from a Ghiradeli box)
• Costco-bought Cinnamon Rolls (Mac almost likes them better than my homemade ones!)
• Aunty Christy's Cinnamon Muffins

The dips were delicious and easy to make; an easy must-have for any gathering.

Fruit Dip:

Cream together 1-(8 oz) package of cream cheese (softened) and 1 jar of marshmallow creme.  Simple as that.

Lemon-Dill Veggie Dip:

Ingredients:

3/4 c. mayonnaise (I usually avoid mayo at all costs, but it's hard to make a creamy dip without it)

3/4 c. sour cream

4 T. fresh lemon juice

4 oz. crumbled feta

2 T. fresh dill

Salt and Pepper

Mix all of the ingredients well. Again, simple as that.

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And there it goes...

... summer. How did it escape me? Somehow those hot, sunny days came and went without even a blink of an eye.  Oh, that's right.... I live in Oregon; we had cold, rainy days.

Nevertheless, my favorite season is upon us; a time for harvesting, preserving, and feasting!  I have every intention of updating this blog more regularly with delicious, mouth-watering recipes, but I've said that before.

To close out the summer days, I thought I'd celebrate by sharing photos of the ridiculously amazing food that we feasted on during our Hawaii trip (mainly because I have done ZERO cooking exploration over the last few weeks and have nothing to post).  Please don't grow tired of me or assume this blog is extinct... while it may seem endangered at the moment, I promise it will be up and running in full capacity in the coming months - you can count on it! For now, enjoy salivating over these covetous meals:

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Jam-time!

When you pick 25 pounds of fresh, organic strawberries it's time for some jam!

This is only about 1/8 of the berries we picked.  I only used this much on a double batch of jam! The rest went in the freezer to use throughout the year...

 First, you need to hull the strawberries.  The easiest way to do this is using a straw, as seen here:

After you hull, you mash. (Next time, I might puree... I think I like smooth jam best).

Then, you mix the mash with lots of sugar. Lots. I tell you, do not skimp on the sugar...

I did not want to put in as much sugar as I did, but it's necessary for the jam to gel.

For 4 quarts of berries, you use approximately 10-12 cups of sugar.

I know. Ridiculous.

But necessary.

 So, go ahead... pour it in...

Then slowly bring that to a boil.  You want to try to get it up to 220 degrees. 

 Meanwhile, start sanitizing your jars and lids (lids on the stove, jars in the dishwasher)...

And start your water bath...

 ... and make a yummy strawberry beverage.

(Strawberry puree, lemonade, and ginger ale)

... and start some strawberry fruit leather in the dehydrator

(accompanied by 5 layers of drying apples!)

Once the jam starts boiling, and the water bath gets going, I get too busy to take pictures.  It's easy; you just ladle the hot jam into hot jars (straight out of the dishwasher), and process in the boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.  Key points are to make sure:

1. Rims of the jars are clean.

2. Lid pieces are secure.

3. Jars are completely covered by water in the water bath.

After 15 minutes, remove the jars CAREFULLY, and voila!

Jam for the next 6 months! (or Christmas presents!)

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Homemade Nutella

I've been too busy lately to update posts, but I promise to have new recipes up sometime next week! For now, jump on over to Brynna Begins, and check out her awesome homemade nutella recipe!!

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Laundry Detergent

A little different than our normal posts... this is a peak into the crazy homemaking life of Mikaela.  Yes, I make my own laundry detergent.  You would too if you saw how easy it is and how much money it saves! The resource I use for my recipe broke down the cost between making laundry detergent and buying name-brand (he estimated 2 1/4 cents per load with homemade, and 20 cents with namebrand).  That saves about $65 a year if you do a load a day!!

I recommend checking out the website for more money-saving tips... but, for the recipe, I'll post it here for you, because I REALLY want you to try it! I even made you a step-by-step picture tutorial. =) Try it. Just once, and if you hate it, you never have to make it again!

To make it you'll need:
1 bar soap
1/2 c. borax (optional)
1 c. washing/baking soda
3 gallons water + 4 cups
A 5 gallon bucket

Cut up the bar of soap... you can use any kind

Bring 4 cups water to a boil, then add the soap one handful at a time

When the soap is dissolved, take it off the heat

Put 3 gallons warm tap water into your bucket

Measure out 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax

Add the dissolved soapy water, soda, and borax and stir

Cover with a lid overnight

Voila! Laundry Soap.

It is normal for the soap to separate; just make sure you scoop out some solid and liquid if it does... also, you can add any essential oil if you want a scent. This bucket lasted me almost a year.

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