Recipes
If you were wondering why I haven’t posted a new recipe in a few weeks, I have a perfectly good explanation. Yes, school was one of the major reasons. That obviously takes time away from what I could otherwise use as my filming time. Another issue was I was going through it these last couple of weeks. What I thought was just a cold, turned into self-diagnosed full-on bronchitis. It was horrible. Lost my voice, constantly coughing, headaches and so on. I can’t emphasize how terrible those two weeks were. On top of being sick, finals were approaching. It was just a huge mess. One day as I was coughing my lungs out, I walked up to my mom with my mouth curled into a pout and the best puppy dog eyes I could give. I asked her, “mama, could you please make chicken soup?” She quickly obliged. Nothing cures me as quickly as my mom’s chicken noodle soup. Why? It’s out of this world good. I’m not exaggerating. When you take your first bite of that steaming hot soup, you’ll think you died and went to flavor town. My mom makes her soup the Lebanese way. It involves vermicelli noodles, a very flavorful stock seasoned with our secret weapon and garnished with Italian flat-leaf parsley. This soup is so flavorful, ridiculously easy to make and will cure you of any ills you may be experiencing.
Thanksgiving is inching closer and closer as each day passes and I can not wait! It’s by far my favorite holiday. For me it’s all about family, food and football. The ultimate All-American holiday. Of course, the All-American holiday can’t be complete without some pie for dessert. But, what is THE pie for Thanksgiving? There is always an intense debate about which of the holy trinity of pies is THE pie for Thanksgiving. Obviously, the holy trinity of pies include pumpkin, pecan and apple.
Well, I’m not really a pecan fan. I do love pumpkin, but there’s still one that has my heart even over pumpkin. Yes it’s true. I only have eyes for one pie in my life and that’s easily apple. I mean you have apples, cinnamon and brown sugar blanketed in a flaky pie crust. You really can’t go wrong with that. If you’ve never tried a homemade apple pie, now is your chance to check that off your bucket list. We’re going to turn you into an apple pie making machine. I know some of you are fearing this, but it’s going to be okay…I promise. Some of you are intimidated by the mere thought of making pie at home. I’ll tell you the honest truth. It’s SO much easier than you think. I guarantee it.
Pound cake gets a bad wrap. There are some crazies out there that think it’s bland, dense and not worth the effort. Well crazies, you’re dead wrong. Pound cake is SO worth the effort…when done right. What do I mean by “done right?” Well, it’s pretty simple. We need a tons of fat in the form of butter, sour cream and cream cheese. Why? Because fat is flavor! This fat also provides moisture to our cake. We need great flavor and I can promise you that is what you get here. There’s tanginess from the buttermilk, lemon, cream cheese and sour cream. There’s great warm flavors from the molasses, cinnamon and brown sugar. Lastly, we need great texture. For a pound cake, it should be a bit dense, yet still have some lightness and moisture to the cake. We also get wonderful texture from our streusel topping. Trust me pound cake haters, this pound cake is one you’ll want to try.
It’s my favorite time of the year. Those who know me, know that I Fall is my season bar none. Though Fall officially started a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I’ve yet to post any Fall-related recipes. Well, that changes today. I’m sharing my version of a beloved fall staple. Cinnamon rolls! Now, there are tons of recipes out there for cinnamon rolls. But, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. If I’m going to make a cinnamon roll, it’s going to have to hit all the marks. So, what makes a great cinnamon roll? In my opinion, it should be soft, tall, fluffy, golden, full of flavor and topped with a delicious glaze. I didn’t want to share a cinnamon roll recipe until I feel like I nailed all those points. After much research and testing, I believe I’ve arrived at the pinnacle of cinnamon roll goodness. I’m happy to share it with you!
A few weeks ago, I shared a raspberry mousse recipe with you guys. Well, little did you know what was going on behind the scenes. That mousse went a long way. Not only did I use them for my raspberry mousse cups, which you can find the recipe for here, but I also was able to use the mousse for this lovely chocolate-raspberry mousse cake. For as good as this cake looks and tastes, it’s incredibly easy to make. I used a homemade chocolate cake, but you can use the boxed mix or grocery cake layers. From there, all I did was make some ganache, which is child’s play and used the leftover raspberry mousse I had on hand. It was that easy.
I’m just going to say it for everybody. “Casserole” doesn’t sound appetizing. The word just has a bad connotation attached to it in the food world. You can blame things like Tuna casserole and other crazy concussions for that. However, I’m here to break that stigma. There are plenty of delicious casserole dishes out there. Lasanaga, baked ziti, and baked macaroni and cheese are great examples of amazing “casserole” dishes. Well, let me introduce one more to add to that list…French Toast Casserole. Yes, you read that right. French Toast Casserole. I love this dish so much! There’s no need to soak the bread overnight. There’s no need to stand over an oven and slave away flipping the bread at precisely the right moment. Nope, this dish allows you to put everything in one casserole dish, bake it off and you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. This version of french toast casserole is called “berries and cream french toast casserole.” For good reason too. We have berries and cream cheese in the casserole. Then, we top it off with more berries and some whipped cream. Once you take a bite of your warm french toast, you’ll think you died and went to heaven. It will take you to another dimension. I’m tellin’ you.
It’s Summer and it’s hot out. I really don’t do well in this weather. I’m more an Autumn girl. However, since I can’t press a fast forward button to the Fall, I’m going to have to tough this heat and humidity out. During the Summer, I want something cool and refreshing daily. These mousse cups check all the boxes. They look impressive. They are easy and quick to make. And man oh man are they good. I’m pretty much a sucker for any raspberry and chocolate combination. Lastly, the best thing is the differing textures. We have the cool creamy mousse, with the dense fudgy chocolate cake and cookie crumbs sprinkled throughout. It really doesn’t get much better.
Anyone that knows me knows that I love peanut butter. Peanut butter candy, peanut butter sweets, and just plain peanut butter and jelly. It’s just such a distinctly wonderful flavor. Let me tell you, these cookies will sure fill your peanut butter needs. They’re full of peanut butter flavor, dense, soft and chewy. The only downside is you’re going to need a big glass of milk to wash them down with because they’re that rich. They’re so good, but you most likely won’t be able to eat more than three at a time. But don’t mind me, try it if you dare!
