Tiramisu Layer Cake

Ok I have to tell you all, this was really good!!

1 (18.25 ounce) package moist white cake mix
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/4 cup coffee

FILLING:
1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

FROSTING:
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

GARNISH:
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) pans.
Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Divide two thirds of batter between 2 pans. Stir instant coffee into remaining batter; pour into remaining pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. In a measuring cup, combine brewed coffee and 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur; set aside.
To make the filling: In a small bowl, using an electric mixer set on low speed, combine mascarpone, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur; beat just until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the cream, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur until stiff. Fold 1/2 cup of cream mixture into filling mixture.
To assemble the cake: Place one plain cake layer on a serving plate. Using a thin skewer, poke holes in cake, about 1 inch apart. Pour one third of reserved coffee mixture over cake, then spread with half of the filling mixture. Top with coffee-flavored cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour another third of the coffee mixture over the second layer and spread with the remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour remaining coffee mixture on top. Spread sides and top of cake with frosting. Place cocoa in a sieve and lightly dust top of cake. Garnish with chocolate curls. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar

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Daring Bakers Tuiles

The daring Baker Challenge this month was Tuiles. We were to pick one of three recipes and bake them, shape them, and pair them. Because of the diet my husband is on he cannot have a lot of flour so I replace about 75% of mine with ground almonds. I was a little worried it was not going to turn out but they were really good. This was my first time with Daring Bakers and it was a lot of fun.

My fruit of choice were pomegranates and I filled them with whipping cream. I can't wait to see what next months challenge is going to be.

Pink Lemonade Spritzer

These are from sanda Lee's new magazine!! Semi Homemade. I can't wait to get mine in the mail.

Ingredients1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
4 tablespoons pink lemonade mix, Country Time®
1 (12-ounce) can lemon-lime-flavored carbonated beverage
Garnish: pink sanding sugar
8 cups crushed ice
Directions
In a large pitcher, combine pineapple juice and lemonade mix, stirring well. Add lemon and lime beverage, stirring well.
In a shallow dish, add a small amount of water or lemonade spritzer. In another small shallow dish, add desired amount of sanding sugar. Dip rims of glasses into liquid mixture and then into sanding sugar to garnish, if desired.
Divide ice between 6 glasses. Pour lemonade over ice. Serve immediately.

Pink Lemonade Pound Cake.

These would be great ideas as gifts for Valentines Day.

Makes 10 to 12 servings
Ingredients1 (18.25-ounce) package Betty Crocker white cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1 (12-ounce) container frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed and divided,Minute Maid
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray an 8-inch loaf pan with nonstick baking spray with flour. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, sour cream, one-half pink lemonade concentrate, drink mix, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Increase mixer speed to medium-high, and beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing top.
Bake for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining one-half pink lemonade concentrate and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Pour over warm cake.

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done

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Brownies

These are so good Danny wants this for his birthday cake. Let me reword this...They say thay are good. I do not like brownies or Chocolate.

These are from Paula Deen...I love her recipes!



1 (17.6-ounce) package brownie mix with walnuts
Vegetable oil cooking spray
3 (6-ounce) candy bars with almonds and toffee chips (recommended: Symphony brand)
Directions
Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions.
Line a 13 by 9-inch cake pan with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil cooking spray. Spoon in half of the brownie batter and smooth with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Place the candy bars side by side on top of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter.
Bake according to package directions. Let cool completely, then lift from the pan using the edges of the foil. This makes it easy to cut the brownies into squares.

Oatmeal Cookies

While your oven is preheating toast your oatmeal until light brown.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Note* I did not dip a fork in sugar and flatten and I did not grease the cookie sheet, I just took them off right away.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

4 ounces linguine pasta
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.
Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Cabbage Soup

This is a Rachael Ray.

You can serve it with or without rice.

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup raw white rice
1 quart plus 2 cups chicken stock, divided
1 1/2 pounds ground meatloaf mix (a combination of beef, pork and veal)
1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it in your palm
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander, half a palm full
2 teaspoons smoked paprika, eyeball it in your palm
Salt
Pepper
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler into strips then finely chopped
1/2-3/4 head Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons dill, finely chopped
Directions
Heat a sauce pot over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the rice and toss to coat in oil. Add 2 cups of chicken stock, bring up to a simmer, cover and cook for 16 to 18 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Heat a deep pot over medium high heat. Add the remaining extra-virgin olive oil, once hot add meat and begin to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Season the meat with allspice, coriander, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Add bay leaf, onions, garlic and carrots. Cook veggies 2 to 3 minutes to begin to soften them, then add cabbage and wilt it down a bit. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and remaining stock and cover the pot. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, add to the soup and continue to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in parsley and dill, adjust salt and pepper to your taste, and serve.

Sunday Dinner

Pork Loin

Fruit platter

Pork Loin

Well I thought I would be good and cook a low fat meal, I know you are all shocked. I took a large Pork Loin and cut it in half, I butterflied the pork and stuffed them with asparagus, spinach, salt, pepper and chipotel and rolled it up and tied it. The other one had onions and garlic in it and rolled on top (I did not like this one much) The first one was a huge hit because of the spice. Then I cooked rice in chicken broth with balsamic vinegar. Now if you wonder how much of each item I used I have no idea, I do not measure when I cook, even when I am following a recipe I don't measure a lot of the stuff I put in. I then just cup up some fruit. We had salad, french bread and then our dessert.One of my desserts I cannot add yet since it is also for the DB online baking challenge.It is late and I am tired so one day I may come back and read this and try to figure out what I was trying to say. LOL

Waffles

I figure since I had nothing to do and felt like cooking at 10:00pm I would just make waffles for the kids in the morning. I really was just going to make plane waffles, then I thought I would just add chocolate chips to them. Well I did not have chocolate chips but I had mini peanut butter cups, so I threw those in the batter. I cooked one up and they ate it and said it was good. So I started thinking....that is not good for me when I am cooking because the next thing you know it is five hours late and I can feed the whole neighborhood. LOL Well it was not that bad this time. I added peanut butter to the batter and let me tell you they were really good.
So I thought what else can I do....I love anything pumpkin so there I went. I made a new batter up and we all know pumpkin has to be sweet. So I added brown sugar with it a long with all my favorite spices. I love Nutmeg, I add it to anything I bake.
So here it is Friday night and I have Saturday breakfast done. I hope to get the house clean early and head to the beach tomorrow. Where else but California can you go to the beach in January.


Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Peanut Butter chocolate chip waffles

Smoothie

I am playing with pictures also. took out the back ground
Light blur on fruit
More of a blur on fruit

I am trying to eat better and get more fruits and veggies. So I figure I would make a smoothie.

I had some problems with my heart and fluid this week so I thought I better be good. so this smoothies is made with mango's, green tea and bananas.

Free Give away!

http://zestycook.com/fundamentals-of-photography-book-review-and-giveaway/

Fundamentals of Photography Book Review and GIVEAWAY!!
Posted by ZestyCook in January 7th 2009
It’s Giveaway Time! This month I have the pleasure of giving away 2 free books. I am giving away a beautiful and wholly comprehensive how-to book for today’s photographers, FUNDAMENTALS OF PHOTOGRAPHY by renowned author, Tom Ang.
Novice or Advanced, Film or Digital, this book is your guide to everything photography related today.

Click the link above and check it out.

Raising a Chef

My 13 year old son Jacob wants to be a chef when he grows up. He said this way he can eat good food when ever he wants. This kid can eat but the one think I notice about him he does not like to eat sweets very much. That might explain why he is so skinny. Well I figure this will be the year we do a lot of cooking together, He can do the cooking while I am at school. See I have it planned all out. LOL When he is in the mood for cookies he will make some. It is so funny because he is tall for his age but I still see him as a little boy, my girl's were cooking and winning baking contest at his age, but I just see a little boy with a very deep voice when I see him. So I better train him now, he just turned 13 December 20th So keep an eye out for meals by Jacob. Maybe I will start him a food blog, maybe not he is such a crazy kid I would spend more time crying from laughing so hard that I would not look at the food. Some of the stuff he writes in his facebook makes us laugh so much. So here is Jacob, I think you will be seeing more of him and maybe his brother Daniel my nine soon to be ten year old. Where does the time go.