Turkey Pesto Panini

I can only imagine how real Italian food tastes. My brother served a mission for our church in Italy. When he was finished my parents went out there to visit before he came home and unfortunately that was about 2 weeks before I got married. Not wanting to leave my soon-to-be husband for soo long (a week), I decided not to go. What was I thinking?? Right? So now he owes me a trip to Italy. He knows this and actually brings it up often. Last night's dinner was Italian inspired. I've been sick the last couple of days and cooking is on my list of last things I want to do when i'm sick, so panini's it was. You can use whatever kind of sandwhich fillings you like, I used the traditional flavors of fresh mozzarella, basil, pesto and turkey (my husband opted for pancetta). I also bought some smore's gelato cause hey, it's Italian night, i'm sick, and I have a thing for smore's.
P.S.- you don't need any fancy panini press to make the sandwhich.

Turkey Pesto Panini

Ingredients:
Bread- you can use whatever type you prefer, I had a loaf of sliced sourdough that I used and it was great.
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Pesto- homemade or store bought. I went the store bought route.
Turkey
Fresh basil (optional)
Butter

Directions:
Preheat grill pan, or skillet.
Spread a layer of pesto on one slice of bread.
Top with mozzarella, turkey and basil then top with another slice of bread.
Butter the outside of top slice of bread then lay buttered side down in preheated pan.
Using another skillet, place it on top of sandwhich and press down slightly.
Cook until golden brown then remove skillet and butter the slice of bread facing up then flip sandwhich over.
Replace skillet back on top of sandwhich and grill other side until golden brown.

Smore's Pie

Today is the first day of Autumn, and i'm posting a smore's pie. Hey, I don't just eat smores in the summer, it's a year round thing for me. My mom came to visit a couple weeks ago and i've been wanting to try this pie for a while, so I decided then would be a good time. My mom says she doesn't like smore's (crazy woman) but she liked this pie. This is so super simple to make and tastes amazing. I would find myself cutting off a thin slice, then going back again for another thin slice, repeat process. It's much richer cold and while it's still good from the refrigerator, I prefer it much better heated up in the microwave for a few seconds. And don't forget to drizzle some hot fudge over it. Totally optional, but more chocolate is always better :)

Smore's Pie

the pastry affair

Yields 6-8 servings
Graham Cracker Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until evenly coated. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant.
Keep oven running.

Chocolate Filling:

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Pinch of salt

2 eggs, whisked

1 bag of large marshmallows

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream and milk. Warm over medium-low heat. Add in chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted and is smooth. Slowly add whisked eggs and mix until smooth.
Pour chocolate filling into baked pie crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chocolate filling is set and does not move when pie is lightly shaken. Remove from oven.
Using a kitchen shears, cut marshmallows in half. Place halves in concentric circles over the top of the pie until covered.
Set oven to broil. Place pie under the broiler and lightly toast the marshmallows. This can take anywhere from 2-5 minutes, so watch those marshmallows closely!
Chill pie in the refrigerator to set for 2-3 hours.

To serve, spray a knife with non-stick cooking spray and cut the cold pie into slices. Heat if prefered and drizzle with chocolate sauce, if desired.

Snickers Cupcakes

See the cupcake stand? I made it. It's really easy, you can make one a number of ways and you can find step by step tutorials online. I even reused this one from Landon's baby blessing by recovering it with a different color cardstock and changing the ribbon. It makes things a lot easier that way.
I've posted this cupcake recipe before, when I made the chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes. It's a great doctored up cake mix and the cupcakes turn out incredibly moist. With sourcream and pudding in the mix, how could they not?? I'm not so much a fan of the candy bars baked into the middle. They melt into the cupcake so you can't tell so much that it was a candy bar. Except I have put a whole reese's cup into the bottom of a cupcake before and baked it and that was really good, it held pretty well. So next time I would just skip baking it in and just put them on the top. It's up to you, either way they're good!

Snickers Cupcakes
My Baking Addiction


Makes 24-30 cupcakes
For the cake:
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs; lightly beaten
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
24-30 frozen Snickers Miniatures

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line (2) 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.
4. Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans.
5. Gently push a frozen Snickers Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup caramel topping; plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.
2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.
Garnish with chopped Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

He's done! Matt finished Chiropractic school about 2 weeks ago (real world here we come!) And of course that calls for a celebration. We had a little party, bbq-at Matt's request, and these cheesecake strawberries were a great option. Especially to counter all the chocolate. The best part about serving these to a large crowd is they are so so fast to prepare and you can make them the day before and store covered in the refrigerator.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

The Sweets Life

Ingredients:
1 lb large strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife. Prep all strawberries and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

Catching Up

First off, i'm loving the produce I get to pick from my garden everyday. I usually get a few tomatoes everyday and today I found a monster zucchini in there and a hidden cucumber, our first one! It's a little difficult finding stuff in the garden because we have a raspberry bush that is taking the area over.

With that out of the way, we had Landon's baby blessing the weekend before last and I meant to take pictures of everything. It was a lot of fun but with all the commotion I didn't get around to it. So instead of posting individual recipes i'm just going to post photos and recipe links.

The first thing I made were oreo brownies. No recipe needed really. I just made brownies and added about 12 chopped up oreos to the batter, then drizzled them with melted white chocolate after they cooked.

Next up are baby blueberry pies from Dinner With Julie. I didn't make the maple vanilla ice cream but I did make them in a mini muffin pan and added a lattice top to some of them with the extra dough I had. The ones with the top looked a lot cuter, like tiny little pies. I've also made mini cherry pies since as well.

Then there's vanilla bean cupcakes from My Baking Addiction. If you're into the classic vanilla on vanilla, this recipe is for you. I also made these ones mini. With several different dessert selections it's nice to have mini versions so you can try more things.


Last weekend we had a church dinner so I took a Reese's peanut butter cup cake. I've been wanting to make it for a while but needed the occassion. I don't get to make cakes often enough.. I was thinking this cake would be a lot bigger than it was and was slightly dissappointed that it wasn't. I was only thinking that because on the site I got the recipe from the cake looked huge! But they must have doubled it for theirs or something.. Anyway it was still really good! Can't go wrong with chocolate and pb, right?

Recipe for the cake and frosting can be found on Annie's Eats.

These recipes really deserve their own post seeing as how wonderful they all are, but I think i'm pretty caught up now.

Bloomin Pizza Bread

I have things to post, but it's hard finding the time to do it. And honestly, i'm trying to keep my eyes open at the moment. Going from 1 kid to 2 I feel like i'm soo much busier now than I was before! Not that I really am..it just takes so long to get things done and the day's over before I know it. Which is why simple and quick meals are so great. As soon as I saw this loaf of deliciousness I had to make it soon. So when Friday night (party night) came around, we grabbed a movie and some 'bubbly' and devoured this guy. Yes it was as good as it sounds and I know we'll be having it again for one of our party nights.
*This pizza bread is so versatile you don't really have to stick with a recipe, you can add in whatever you desire.*
Bloomin Pizza Bread
The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:
1 unsliced round loaf sourdough bread
12-16 ounces mozzarella or Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1 (3.5 ounce) package pepperoni, halved
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
pizza/marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.Place bread on a foil-lined baking sheet and insert cheese slices and pepperoni between cuts. Combine butter, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. Drizzle or brush over bread with a pastry brush. Sprinkle bread with Parmesan cheese. Wrap bread completely in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepperoni is a little crispy.

Smore's Ice Cream Bars

I feel like it's been a while since I posted something. Not because I haven't made anything, although I have been cutting back, but because I've had my hands full. It's hard enough to find time to do everything I need/want to do with a newborn and toddler as it is, posting a recipe gets the back burner. So to make up for my lack of posts, here's a 2 in 1.
I love all things smores, so it was a given that I had to try making these. Especially since I like having a homemade treat in the freezer I can pull out and eat as I wish. Which i'm learning can be a very bad thing.. These ice cream sandwiches reminded me of an It's-It (the kind with oatmeal cookie and vanilla ice cream) if you've ever tried those.
The homemade graham crackers were real good, although mine turned out more like cookies. But that's ok..I like cookies :) Definitely something i'll make again. Except for I needed to bake them a little longer because they were a little doughey tasting. Once they were frozen though it was alright.
The roasted marshmallow ice cream was good too, but not really something I would eat by itself. But make it into a sundae or something and i'm sure i'd be all over it. I should also note that instead of making the meringue for the ice cream, I just used store bought marshmallows and roasted them on a baking sheet then blended it up with the custard.

Smore's Ice Cream Sandwiches
Pennies on a Platter



Graham Crackers:
Yield: 48 2-inch squares
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and frozen
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoons milk, full-fat preferred
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal.
Whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Pour into the flour mixture and pulse again a few times until the dough barely comes together. It will be soft and somewhat sticky. Lightly dust a large piece of plastic wrap with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping by mixing together the 3 tablespoons sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl or shaker; set aside.
Once the dough is firm, remove from plastic wrap and roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Flour the rolling pin as necessary. Cut into 2-inch squares and place on lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar topping then chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer.
Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Using a fork, prick the dough to form three dotted rows. Bake the crackers/cookies for 15 to 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Bake for a shorter time if desiring more of a cookie texture. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar after baking, if desired.

Roasted Marshmallow Ice Cream
Ingredients:
4 eggs, divided
About 1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
2 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the marshmallow meringue:
Combine 2/3 cup of the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves, with the heat on low, until it reaches between 236˚-244˚F. Try not to let it boil. In the meantime, you can start following the instructions below to make the custard.
Once the syrup reaches 230˚F, start whipping the egg whites until reaches soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until reaches stiff peaks. With the mixer still on, pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites in a thin stream. Beat until somewhat cooled, then spread onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Broil for a few minutes, until nicely browned.

For the custard:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow; set aside. While keeping an eye on the sugar syrup, warm the milk, cream and salt in a medium heavy saucepan until almost boiling. Temper the eggs by slowly whisking 1/2 cup of the warmed cream into the egg yolks, while stirring constantly to avoid curdling. Slowly whisk in the rest of the cream into the egg yolks, then pour back into the saucepan and continue to heat on medium-low until the custard thickens (about 3-6 minutes). Place a lid on the saucepan to keep the custard warm until the marshmallow meringue is ready.
Once the marshmallow meringue is ready, transfer the custard into a large bowl and whisk in the roasted marshmallow meringue. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Just before freezing, whisk the mixture again and stir in the vanilla. Freeze according to your ice cream freezer manufacturer’s instructions.

Assemble the Sandwiches:
you'll need:
homemade graham crackers
roasted marshmallow ice cream
ganache

When making the ice cream, after churning in your freezer bowl, spread the ice cream in a 9×13 parchment-lined pan. Freeze overnight.
The next day, match your graham crackers into pairs by size. Make the ganache and spread a thin layer on one cookie from each pair. Set on a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes to partially harden the chocolate. (This will create a sturdier base for holding the ice cream.)
Remove the ice cream from the pan by lifting the parchment paper and set on a cutting board. Using a knife, cut the ice cream into squares or rectangles equal to the size of your graham crackers, one portion for each pair of grahams. Place the ice cream square on the ganache and sandwich the other graham cracker on top, gently pressing together. Return back to the baking sheet and freeze until hard. Wrap individually in foil and keep stored in the freezer.
Makes about 8-10 sandwiches