Recipe #9 - Paula Deen Baked Potato Soup

So I have had a craving for potato soup for months, but didn't make it because I thought The Critic didn't like it.  Turns out he does, so I made it tonight.  Potato soup always runs the risk of tasting bland, so I went with a tried and true chef - Paula Deen.  I am not going to say this is the healthiest soup, but it didn't lack flavor.  So if you are looking for a lowfat/low calorie soup this ain't it!  But if you are looking for comfort food, then this is definitely the ticket.

The Critic gave it 3.75 stars out of 5 on the "soup" scale. 

Here is the recipe:

Baked Potato Soup

Serves: 8
Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients

• 8 slices Smithfield Naturally Hickory Smoked Bacon
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 5 potatoes, baked, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 cups half & half
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 cup sour cream
• Salt & pepper to taste (optional)

Steps

In a Dutch oven cook bacon until crisp; remove and crumble, reserve drippings.
Cook onion in bacon drippings until tender; stir in flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add chicken broth; cook, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Put in the diced potatoes, parsley, bacon and half & half; cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cheese and sour cream.


What did I think? I left out the sour cream in the end because I didn't think it needed it and it saved on some calories. I did not care for the bacon in it, but that is a personal preference.  If you are a fan of bacon you will love it.  I topped it with some French Fried Onions which I think added just the right amount of crunchy texture.  Again this is simply a preference. It was far better after a couple days also! Definitely a perfect soup for a cold winter night! 

It's No Longer Just Sinful...

I think I might actually commit murder over this cake!  It is a cake I have featured already in the post - The Best Chocolate Cake Ever.  The cake is the Sinful Chocolate cake, but I made a few changes and put a frosting on it that would bring anyone to their knees! As a matter of fact, Taylor and I were fighting over it for breakfast this morning!

THE CHANGES

1. I baked the cake in 2 9x2 in round cake pans.  Don't use a standard 9 inch pan or you will have too much batter! If that's all you have, only fill the pan 2/3 full and save the rest of the batter for something else.

2. I frosted it with a delicious, ridiculously easy whipped cream frosting! It was so perfect for the richness of the cake.  It was a perfect compliment instead of a decadent addition!

Are you ready for the frosting recipe? You might want to sit down for this!

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 can Ready Made Frosting, flavor of your choice
1 8 oz tub Cool Whip

Add both to your mixer and whip to combine.  Frost until your hearts content!

It absolutely can not get any easier than that!  Just remember to refrigerate the cake after you have frosted it!

Happy Baking!

Creative Outlet - Whose Got One?

Obviously I have been doing something to occupy February besides baking/cooking.  I recently joined a digital scrap booking club called Heritage Makers.  I thought I was doing a good thing for one of my husbands co-workers, but it turned out she was doing an amazing thing for me.  I've always been intrigued by scrap booking, but have never had the time or money to invest.  Plus it creates a mess and there is all that cutting and pasting and yuck. When I discovered digital scrap booking I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  Just this week I got my first projects in the mail and the quality was truly beyond anything I had expected.  I am going to post a few of the projects I have done so you can see that I haven't been slacking this month.

I did this page to answer the question...What is the heart of your home?

I did this page with Reflection in mind.

I did these for Samantha as a way to always remember her best friend. I love you kiddo! 

This was for Taylor's first Junior High play.  She was awesome! Love you babe...

What a labor of love these have been.  I have several projects I am currently working on including an ABC Deck of Cards for Addison, a Family Album and a Heritage Album.  Then there is always the fun of birthday and anniversary cards.  I promise more baking and cooking next month.  Thank you for indulging me this time.

Where Did February Go?

It seems I have let February get away from me.  It has been a month of weddings, parties and wonderful house guests.  Of course, there was Valentine's Day which only remains important because it is the anniversary of me meeting the love of my life.  It is hard to believe it has been 3 years, when it feels like a lifetime ago.  Life is so amazing when you find the perfect compliment to yourself.  However, please don't think I have not been busy in the creative department. 

First I was absolutely blessed to have the opportunity to make cookies for Miss Addison's first party.  I thought I might get off easy and do something simple, but she wanted horses.  So horses I did.  Keep in mind I had never tackled horses before so I was in new territory.  Of course something always goes wrong.  These were no exception.  First, the icing I used to flood the cookies separated when it dried and made a weird pattern on the cookies.  Second, I could not figure out how to put eyes on the darn things without making them looked possessed.  Third, the cookies started to get a little hard so I put bread in the container I was storing them in the night before the party.  Well this had a significant melting effect on the icing of the cookies in the near vicinity of the bread.  Lucky for me I plan ahead and make more than I need.  So by Saturday morning when I'm trying to get to Casper for a vet appointment, basketball game and a party I am dealing with crisis.  I won't even mention my procrastination of the cotton candy making. 

Long story short, I made it to the vet where Toby played with the cat. I made it to the basketball game where Samantha dressed for the JV team and played 3 minutes in the game.  And I made it to Addison's party where she had a hair raising good time.  Everyone loved the cookies and finally my day was done! 

 **Stay tuned for the other creative happenings I have been engaged in this month.

Lessons Learned

I didn't feel like cooking dinner last night and I had to go pick up John from work.  So I tasked Taylor with making dinner.  We were having Sloppy Joes and french fries.  I made sure she had everything she needed and went out the door.  She is still mystified with the temperatures on the stove because she called me to ask what "number" she should put the burner on.  Reminds me of her first attempt at a quesadilla...and turning the stove on 8.  She couldn't figure out why her quesadilla was so "crispy".  I love that kid. 

So John and I come home and the sloppy joes are simmering in the skillet...thumbs up!  The french fries are sitting frozen on the cookie sheet.  I asked her if she planned on cooking them and she started stuttering and waving her hands in various directions.  We were waiting on the oven to preheat.  She says I guess we will have to microwave the sloppy joes or something since we had to wait on the fries. Did I mention I love that kid?  I showed her how to put them on low to simmer.  See I told you...mystified!

Eventually dinner did get done and it was good.  Tay and I talked about why this experience was important in her quest to know how to cook.  I asked her what she learned and she came up with all kinds of answers, but they were gibberish.  Eventually she figured out that cooking is about "multi-tasking".  Really loving that kid now!

Thank you Taylor for your delicious meal and your willingness to learn.  Now I wonder how long it will be before I hear "Mom...what number do I put it on?"

Happy Cooking

Recipe #8 - Homemade "Tagalong" Girl Scout Cookies

In all their chocolate nakedness glory!

Hey all!

My husband was upset with me because I don't really bake anything with his particular tastes in mind.  Unfortunately, this is true!  I'm usually making things for others or trying recipes that look good to me.  It's not that he doesn't enjoy some of these things, but he was feeling left out.  So on Saturday I decided I was going to bake for him.  My husband loves Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies.  I have tried to find a reasonable substitution at the grocery store forever and there just isn't one.  Then I came across this recipe in a blog and decided to give it a try. 





Naked NO MORE!

1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball.  Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread much. Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (natural or regular)
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar*
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS cooking oil or shortening
about 8-oz semisweet chocolate

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling onto each cookie. Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.
Melt the chocolate in a small, heat-resistant bowl. This can be done in a microwave (with frequent stirring). Add oil to thin the consistency of the chocolate for smoother dipping.   Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.

What did I think? I am not a good judge of these cookies because they are truly not anywhere near a cookie I would pick or enjoy for that matter.  But these were awesome because they turned out amazing and I had to do very little tweaking.  This is unusual for a recipe you pull off the Internet.  Except for mine of course!! The cookies even baked for the amount of time the recipe called for.  As per my usual though I had to be the expert and ended up putting my test batch back in the oven 3 times before finally believing the recipe.  So yes truly cook these cookies for the full 11-13 minutes.  The filling was really easy and surprisingly creamy.  I piped it onto the cookies with my handy dandy cupcake decorating gun of magic!  Wow did that make it easier.  I flattened the peanut butter onto each cookie, forming a flat patty before dipping them in chocolate.  They were really beautiful cookies once done.  They are far better than the purchased variety and you can have them all year long.  I believe even the fairly inexperienced baker can pull these off and look like a master.

"They are DEEELICIOUS!"

What did "The Critic" think? 4.5 out of 5 stars  He absolutely loved these cookies.  He was so excited that I thought of him and made him his own cookies.  Not to mention that he has been searching for these cookies forever.  So I scored some serious points Saturday for a couple hours worth of work.  He requested I try a graham cracker crust with these.  Still trying to figure out how to get the crust to stay in one piece, but I will keep you updated.  He said that would bring them to a 5.  Never satisfied I tell you!  But I love him anyway. 

I believe this recipe has become my #1 success this year so far and I don't even like the cookies.  It was a well written recipe and easily executed.  Thank you to the generous blogger who posted it...sorry I didn't write your name down!  She also had a recipe for Samoas, so if I can find it I will be trying those next I think.

Happy Baking!

Recipe #7 - Put The Lime on The Coconut Cookies

Hello All!  Sorry for the lapse in additions.  Taylor had a play last week and that consumed all of our time.  She was spectacular, but it has been a long week getting back into a routine.  However, yesterday I found inspiration in an unusual place.  My local hometown grocery store, Douglas Grocery gives out weekly, inspiration oriented pamphlets.  I had picked one up the week before, but as a busy life often demands, I threw it in the garbage without reading it.  This week I overheard two women discussing it - one enjoyed the crossword puzzle and the other enjoyed the RECIPES.  Now I had to read this weeks edition.  It was there that I found this little gem of a recipe.  I renamed it because this was the little jingle annoying me when I made them. 80)

Put The Lime On The Coconut Cookies

Crust:
1 stick margarine, melted
2 TBS brown sugar
1 1/4 c. flour

Filling:
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. walnuts, chopped
1 c. flaked coconut
2 eggs, well beaten

Icing:
1 TBS lime juice
1 TBS margarine, melted
3/4 to 1 c. powdered sugar

In a large bowl, mix together the margarine and 2 TBS brown sugar.  Add flour and mix well.  Spread evenly in a greased 9x9 baking pan, pressing firmly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.  Mix together well, 1 c. brown sugar, baking powder, salt, walnuts and coconut.  Add 2 well-beaten eggs and mix well.  Spread over the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  While still warm, pour icing made from icing ingredients.  Cool and cut into bars.

These are really hard to tell when they were done.  Mine were a little underdone.  They tasted fine, but I would bake them for the full 25 minutes or even 30.  Just watch the top closely so it doesn't get too brown or burn if you go more than 25 minutes.

What did I think? These were almost perfect. I already mentioned mine were underdone and so the brown sugar didn't melt and become chewy all the way through.  There was definitely a grainy texture with the sugar.  The icing added a tart little zing to the cookie. I'm not gonna lie though.  I prefer these without the icing.  They would be delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  You could even squeeze some lime juice over the ice cream.  There is always the option to use lemon also, but then they don't sound nearly as cool.  I will definitely make these again.  They combine two of my favorite things - shortbread crust and coconut.

What did The Critic think?  If his face was any indication when he tasted the icing, then he would have hated these.  I assumed he would not want to taste these because he doesn't like coconut really.  So when he told me they would be much better if I put regular powdered sugar icing on them, I ignored him.  He wasn't too enthused by decision.  I had to agree that I was a bit of a jerk.  Mostly because I wanted to do it the way I wanted.  Don't worry...I apologized!  He enjoyed this cookie more than I thought he would.  He even conceded that the lime wasn't as strong once the icing was on the cookie.  He would eat these again.  I will keep them plain and make him some icing to drown his in. 

Happy Baking!