Picture taking...

I not only like to bake and cook but I also like to take photographs. I'm def not a professional photographer but I think I take some decent shots. On my way to work downtown I always go under the train tracks and these last few days some icicles have been hanging there. I've been wanting to take pictures of them so I grabbed the camera and took it with me when I ran some errands. Here are some of the pictures.....

The last one made me smile. I was sitting at a traffic light, snow is sitting all around and the car in front of me said "ah beach". That's right!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh beach! :)

Easy Pudding Cookies....

While making dinner tonight (I made meatballs stroganoff) I felt like giving another recipe that I found a try. Easy Pudding cookies! I had everything on hand except for chocolate chips but I figured I'd still give it a shot. The cookies came out nice and soft. I will def make them again but I'll make sure to add some chocolate chips. :)

what you need!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S White Chocolate, chopped

make it!

HEAT oven to 350°F.

BEAT butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add dry pudding mix; beat until well blended. Add eggs and baking soda; mix well. Gradually add flour, beating after each addition until well blended. Stir in chocolate.

DROP tablespoons of dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.

BAKE 10 to 12 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 min. on baking sheets; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

Steak and Potatoes

The other day Linda, suggested an easy recipe for me to make for dinner. She knows her son well and knew he'd love it. I made it for dinner tonight. It turned out wonderful.

All you need to make this is:

A package of Chopped Steak

Can of Cream of chicken soup

Potatoes (mashed)

First off, I browned the steak with some pepper and W sauce. Once it was done I put it in a 9 x 13 glass dish. I added the Can of Cream of Chicken soup and water. (water: about as much as the empty can) I then covered with foil and baked for about 2 hours @ 350. Once it was done I turned the oven down to warm, stirred it, covered and kept it in the oven. I peeled some potatoes and cut them into little pieces and cooked them on the stove. Once they were done, I mashed them and mixed them with milk, pepper, salt and some butter. Then I put a pile of mashed potatoes in the middle of the plate and added the 'soup' on top. It's very filling and delicious. I'm fairly certain this will become a regular meal.

Blizzard February 2010

MMMM lunch! :)

Grilled Cheese!! :) MMMMMMM!

Breakfast

I wanted French Toast this morning. I asked Nate if he wanted some and his reply "I'm not a big fan of French Toast". Who's not a fan of French Toast??? WOW!! So, I thought "fine, more for me". I found a recipe online for Easy French Toast. I thought it was perfect b/c it was enough mix just for 2 slices of bread.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 slices bread
• 
  
• Directions

1. Beat together egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.
2. Heat a lightly oiled skillet or griddle over medium heat.
3. Soak bread slices in egg mixture for 20 second on each side, or until thoroughly coated. Cook bread until both sides are lightly browned and crisp. Serve hot.

I followed the directions. As I put in 1 tablespoon of Cinnamon I was thinking that might be too much. As I tasted my French Toast I thought it was too much cinnamon. I'm not a huge fan of this recipe but at least I got my French Toast fix. The best French Toast I've ever had is Kristen's but well she's not snowed in with me to make any. LOL :)

Since Nate is outside using the snow blower I figured I would make him some Cinnamon sugar donuts.

It will be a nice treat for him when he comes in from the cold. :)

Snow Bird!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Last month my friend Melissa, mentioned that she made some delicious banana crumb muffins. So, today I checked my pantry, had all the ingredients and decided to give it a go. They are totally some of the best muffins I've ever had. Thank you Melissa!!!! :)

To make yourself:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.