Dessert Popcorn

My sister is currently sugar free (and I hope to be joining her as soon as all my crazy travel is over for the quarter--it was too hard to figure out during), but before she went off legal crack we had fun experimenting with dessert popcorn.

One of her thrifted Christmas gifts this year was an air popper. And it's been wonderful to have popcorn in the evenings while watching TV or a movie.

But there there is something that makes popcorn even better. Toppings! Here are two sweet versions we came up with.

Salted Caramel Popcorn

Drizzle popcorn with softened homemade caramel (ours was a gift from our mom, but I'll try to post a recipe soon), sprinkle with a little sea salt, mix lightly, and enjoy.  The key to this dish is to not overheat the caramel so it doesn't immediately harden. You want it to be soft and sticky, not a big block. Also, we found it easier to mix the ingredients by the bowl.

Muddy Buddy (or Puppy Chow) Popcorn

This was a play of the Chex cereal treat. I melted chocolate chips, peanut butter, and a little vanilla in the microwave, 1 minute at a time and stirring in between. Then I poured the mixture over the popcorn, mixed until evenly coated, and topped with powdered sugar. We did a big batch of this at once and took it with us to Hunger Games in the theater.

The caramel option is great for a quick fix. And who doesn't love chocolate and peanut butter. What other winning combinations can you think of?

Yummy Banana Muffins

I've had a couple bananas sitting on my counter, getting older and looking less and less appealing. It was the perfect excuse for making banana bread (except I don't have a bread pan, so banana muffins it was).

Chocolate-Swirled Banana Muffins
adapted from this recipe

Ingridients
- 1 c white flour
- 1 c whole wheat flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 c sugar
- 1/4 c butter (softened)
- 3 mashed ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 c lowfat greek yogurt
- 1/2 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream sugar and butter.
3. Mix in bananas, eggs, and yogurt until just blended
4. Add flour to wet mixture. Mix until just moistened.
5. Microwave chocolate chips in medium bowl. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly.
6. Add 1 c batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined.
7. Spoon batter, alternating between the plain and chocolate, into greased or lined muffin tin. Fill the muffin cups 1/2 - 3/4 of the way full.
8. Swirl batter with a knife.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until knife/toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling (or do what I did and enjoy a warm muffin or two).

Enjoy!

A couple notes: your muffins will turn out the best if you mix them as little as possible when combining the wet/dry mixtures. Just make sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Avoid overcooking the chocolate chips in the microwave. Melt a minute at a time, and make sure to mix pretty well after each minute as they will melt more as you do that.

Savor Seattle: Pike Place Market

Pike Place is one of my favorite "landmarks" in Seattle. Everyone knows it. The sign is iconic. The flowers are always gorgeous and inexpensive.

But mostly, I really, really love the food.

So when my good blog friend, Sarah, suggested meeting up there for the Savor Seattle Food Tour, I jumped. Sarah and her fiance, J, left for Japan this morning, so this was our last hurrah for a while. And the tour was an awesome activity to end with.

The tour stops at a number of famous Pike Place restaurants and shops. While the portions seemed small at the beginning, by the end I was very thankful.

I have a few pictures to share, but mostly I was busy eating. I'll do my best to fill in the gaps between pictures.

The group met up at a Starbucks just across the street from the market. I got there early thanks to my bus being speedy, so I helped myself to a little caffeine. We got the run down on the tour, inserted our ear pieces, and headed off into the cold, rainy, windy Seattle day.

Once we entered the market, we got to sample donuts. Delicious, deep fried, sugar covered donuts. Also, we took a gander at all of these donor tiles.

Then we moved on to tea and spices. How I love tea and spices. If only I had all the money in the world to buy the nice stuff.

Tea and spices were followed by seafood, a sampling of smoked salmon (one of my favorite things in the world), and one lucky tour member getting to catch a fish. He did it like a pro.

We all stopped by the pig. She has a name. I can't recall it though.

The we crossed the street to sample some apples and oranges from the produce stands. Then I wanted to buy all the fruits and vegetables. Also, did you know the eggplant is the largest berry in the world.

We followed produce with clam chowder, another one of my favorite things. Seriously. And this stuff was award winning. I can't wait to go back for a full-sized version.

We followed chowder with Chukar's Cherries. My favorite was the dark chocolate merlot covered option.

Cherries were followed by cheese. Cheese and world famous mac 'n' cheese. I'm a cheese addict, so this was pretty heavenly.

This is the point that I stopped taking pictures. After cheese we sampled piroshkies, savory and sweet, and crab cakes.

It was all delicious and just made me want to go eat all the food. And buy all the things.

Even if you're from Seattle and/or have been to the Market, I strongly recommend this tour. The guides are friendly and helpful, food can be modified to meet your dietary needs, and everything was delicious.

Food Fun: Sweet and Savory

Even though I haven't posted about it recently, I promise I have actually been cookie (and eatting, which this weekend took the form of many spoonfuls of cookie dough).

I thought I'd share a few pictures and links to recipes of recent creations.  A simple post.

I don't know how much I really need to say about this treat.  Puppy Chow, Muddie Buddies, or whatever you call it...it doesn't matter.  Basically this is cereal transformed into candy crack.

I love it.  This batch was spiced up with chocolate chex.  Because there's no such thing as too much.

Now that we got the important recipe out of the way....

I give you Shepherd's Pie.  I roughly followed a recipe from Epicurious, meaning I used the gravy and basic steps.

However, I did not use the same veggies (mine had carrots, onions, leeks, green beans, mushrooms, and maybe something I forgot) and ended up adding italian sausage because I liked the extra spice.

It was really, really good.  Though, as a warning, it is a little labor intensive.  But it makes a lot and the taste is worth the time.

What have you made lately?

Apples = Fall

Apples are one of my favorites parts about fall.  Fresh, crisp, and delicious.  And even better, they go great with things like cinnamon and brown sugar.

Enter, apple crisp.  I had a craving and a bag of apples from my parents, so I made a little.  And we even ended up making it for Thanksgiving to go with Pumpkin Bread Pudding, courtesy of Bobby Flay.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Apple Crisp
Peel and chop enough apples to get a decent layer in a 9x13 pan.  I ended up using 10-12 small and medium apples.
Sprinkle apples with white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Melt 2 sticks butter and mix with 1 c oats, 1 c brown sugar, 1 c flour, and 1 tbsp cinnamon.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

The measurements, as always, are approximate.  And I really should have used more apples, as they cook down quite a bit.

I ate mine plain, but it would be delicious with ice cream.  Yum.  I'll do that next time.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potatoes, again

I'm going back to my sweet potato kick for this one.  I'm all about sweet potatoes in the fall and winter, especially when the store down the street has them 2 lbs/$1.  My bank account and my belly win.

Sweet Potato Breakfast Scramble

I'd love to give you amounts, but I have no idea for this one. 

I diced and lightly sauteed onions, garlic, and peppers (red and green) until the onions became a little translucent.   

Then I added the sweet potatoes, peeled and diced, and cooked the mixture until the sweet potatoes were softened.  I seasoned it with curry and cumin.  

While the potatoes were cooking, I whisked together a couple eggs and milk.  Then I added the mixture to the skillet and cooked eggs through.  

Put it in a bowl and, voila, a delicious breakfast.

Easy Breakfast Cups

I have another recipe for you today.  Though considering my measuring practices, 'recipe' may be a bit of a stretch.  My sister found the idea for this treat on Pinterest--the place that sucks all the time and has all the pretty things.  Here's our version:

I have no idea what to call this, but it's basically a breakfast sandwich in a muffin tin.  So there you go.

You start by flattening a piece of bread and shaping into the muffin tin.  We went with 5 for two of us and it ended up being pretty much perfect.  Next we layered in cheese, bacon (cooked), and sauteed onions and peppers.  Once you have all the filling, crack an egg over the top.  Bake at 350 until the egg sets.  Take breakfast sandwich muffins out of the tins and consume the deliciousness.

A couple notes: We ended up buying an oversized muffin tin for the second batch so we could get more goodies in each cup.  Also, I ended up using a scramble egg mixture (eggs and milk) the second time.  Be warned that the mixture will expand, so don't fill to the rim.

I would love to try this with biscuit dough instead.  Yum!

What fun dishes have you made lately?

Recent Food Stuff

Now that I don't live with the padres, I actually cook now and again.  I try to cook ALL the time, so I just make really big batches and feast of leftovers.

Anyway, I thought I'd highlight a couple dishes I've cooked recently that turned out really, really delicious.  And that I want to keep eating.

I should warn you that I don't actually cook by recipe much, unless I something pretty specific and new in mind.  But I'll do my best to estimate for you.

First up are Sweet Potato Enchiladas.  I'm seriously addicted to sweet potatoes.  You'll see it a few times.

To make these I peeled, cut, and roasted three semi-large sweet potatoes.  To roast, I left in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.  While the sweet potatoes were roasting, I sauteed diced onion (1/2 an onion) and minced garlic (3 cloves--I love garlic!), added already cooked black beans (1 can) to let the flavor mix and stirred them into a bowl with corn (1 can, but I prefer frozen).

Once the potatoes were done,  I heated tortillas to make them easy to work with.  I opened up my enchilada sauce (1 large can, from scratch was not in the plans for this project) and spread a little along the bottom of the pan.  Then, one-by-one, I filled tortillas with the sweet potatoes and vegetable mixture and rolled them up in the pan.

When the pan was full, I topped it with the remaining enchilada sauce and lots of grated cheese.  I cooked the enchiladas at 350 for about 25 minutes--long enough for the cheese to melt and bubble.

A few notes: I probably wouldn't use the corn again, certainly not from the can.  And I'd be tempted to add sauteed mushrooms.  But then, I'm as addicted to mushrooms as I am to sweet potatoes.  Finally, the enchilada sauce is pretty key.  Make you pick a tasty one.  I got El Pato and really liked it.

That's the recipe for this week.  I'll do my best to continue share things I'm making.  You know, the ones that actually taste good.

Beer and Cupcakes

a.k.a. my trip to the emerald city for a blogger get together.

When Carrie of My Chocolate Covered To Do List invited me to a sprinkle party with other Seattle bloggers, I immediately said yes.

After weeks of comparing schedules and emailing back and forth, a date was finally set for this past Monday.

Since I don't actually live in the city and was probably going to fight traffic, I decided to invite a friend to come with me and head down a little early.

Of course, planning ahead meant there was no traffic to speak of.  Not that I'm complaining.

Just up the street from the cupcakery is Elysian Brewery, a place I had been before and just couldn't help stopping by again for dinner.

We tried an amazing pumpkin ale, The Great Pumpkin.

(Don't mind the amazing staging on the photo.)  I liked the beer so much I feel safe saying it was perhaps my favorite beer I've ever had.

For real.

I also had a delicious shepherd's pie.

From dinner, my friend and walked down to Cupcake Royale for the sprinkle party.  The shop had an awesome table set up for us.

Notice the amazing art that we gazed upon all night.  We got a coupon for free hot drinks and lots of cupcakes to decorate.  Plus, Carrie brought red wine to sip on.

Unfortunately, not everyone invited could make it.  That left a lot of cupcakes for the rest of us to decorate.

We managed to struggle through.

There were multiple colors of frosting and lots of sprinkle choices.  I had to a Halloween-inspired version as well.

Even better than the cupcakes was the chance to connect with area bloggers, especially in person.  I met the mastermind of Delishhh, Jeanna, and recent midwest transplant Sarah.  They were all fabulous.

Now we're hoping to make it a more regular event (getting together, not decorating cupcakes).

Not that I would ever say no to a cupcake.  In case you didn't notice, I have a thing for chocolate.

A Weekend of Eating Out

At dinner tonight, my brother and I were joking about the fact that I don't eat at home anymore.  That's certainly been true this week.

With my work load picking up, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  I've been working hard to bring food with me.

Then the weekend hit.

And I had a latte and donut, I went out to dinner, I had another donut, I went out to dinner again, and again.

I am getting a variety of food though: sweet potato ravioli followed by orange mocha cheesecake, thai iced tea and yakisoba noodles, and alaskan lingcod and burnt cream.  So I have that going for me.

Not only was the food delicious, but now I have leftovers to last me the first few days of the week.

The funniest moment of my weekend out:

Sorry for the poor quality, I just had my phone in the toilet with me.

I'm not sure what "as many times as you can" means.  Am I supposed to sit there flushing repeatedly as I go to the bathroom?  Am I supposed to flush as many times as it takes to get everything down?

I'm just not sure.  Also, notice the amazing grammar.  It was in a thai restaurant.

Maybe a new toilet would be a good investment.  It could save their water bill.

Listing Listy Things

Apparently now that I'm back at work my posting schedule is weekly.  And while I have ten million partial blog posts roaming around my head, I'm going to take the easy way out and do a little round up.

My excuse I just got done with an 8+ hour work day, but over the course of 12 hours.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are long for me.

Anyways, enjoy!

• My work schedule (transcribing + lawn mowing) has combined to make it hard to establish a regular gym routine.  While I do get A LOT of walking in, I need to get some more weights-type work in on my own time.  I've been considering adding this routine.  Who doesn't want nicely toned legs?!
• You know what I love (but doesn't go well with not working out)?  Homemade mac n cheese.  And the collection on the Tasty Kitchen blog (a la Pioneer Woman) is pretty unbeatable.
• To counteract the calories of mac n cheese, and to treat my body right, maybe I'll try one of these power food combos.
• I don't sew, but if I did I'd try to make either this skirt or this skirt.  Maybe that would be an okay place to start.
• Who doesn't like cake? Especially pretty ones like these.
• Also, can I just say necklaces.

On that note, I'm calling it a night.  I'm not sure what to say about all the food I mentioned, except that I love food and couldn't live without it.  Literally.

Until next week.  (Or maybe sooner if I can manage it.  Don't count on it.)

A Love Affair with Heavy Cream

Blame it all on homemade ice cream.

Actually, my recent fascination really started with a cherry tree.  My best friend's family just had too many cherries in their lives.

I, of course, did what any good person would do and volunteered to take some off their hands.  After grabbing my first bag, I immediately had a vision of ice cream with chunks of cherries and dark chocolate.

Last night, the opportunity to make that dream presented it in the form of dinner (kabobs - one of my favorites) with friends.  I tweaked a recipe from Tasty Kitchen to create a vanilla ice cream with cherry and dark chocolate chunks.

It was so amazing that I had some for breakfast.  I just couldn't help myself.

Tonight I returned to the heavy cream with a couple batches of scones, based off a recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  And while I haven't actually tasted my creations, I think the pictures speak for themselves:

I had to use some more cherries.  I just couldn't help myself.  So I made these beautiful cherry vanilla scones.

I also created some lemon blueberry scones using some dried blueberries that my parents got me forever ago.  I'm not sure I added enough lemon, but I'm thinking they'll still be okay.

I compensated all this delicious (but not so nutritious) cooking with a dinner of salad straight from Trader Joe's cooler.  The container was so packed that I couldn't eat all of it, but what I did consume was delicious.

What I really should have been doing was packing and getting organized for a camping trip instead of baking, but I think it was worth it.

Burgers.

I mean to get to the past weekend eventually, but for the moment I need to talk about a more pressing matter.

Food.  Something that I take very seriously.

More specifically than food, I want to talk about 5 Guys - Burgers and Fries.

I'm pretty much always behind the times and very uncool, but I just went to 5 Guys yesterday for the first time.

I would definitely recommend it for a good burger.  It's very basic, just burgers (and a couple other sandwich options), fries, and soda.  But it is good.  You choose the toppings you want, all for free.  And you can see your food being made.

There are even peanuts to snack on while you wait.

If you haven't tried it, you definitely should.

Rationing It

You know what's difficult, rationing milk properly.

I don't mean in the sense that there aren't enough cows producing milk for consumption.  More like, I just poured a glass of milk to go with my banana pecan cake with cream cheese frosting and I have to ration it properly.

There's nothing worse than finishing a piece of delicious (and I'm sure very nutritious) homemade cake and not having any milk left to finish it off.

Or not drinking as much as you want during the eating process and then ending up with a large amount of milk at the end.

It's just horrible.

That's why rationing milk properly is serious business.

And if I'm one thing, it's serious about my food.

Death by Muffin

The dog is not happy with me.  I am eating a muffin and not sharing it with her.

If forced, she would settle for the muffin liner.  Because nothing says delicious more than a waxy paper with the slight taste of poppyseed muffin.

Speaking of these muffins, they are the large jumbo size Costco muffins, which probably be the cause of my not being able to fit in my bridesmaid dress.

(Just kidding, Laura.  I'm going to look awesome.)

Do you know the muffins I'm talking about?

They probably each have a stick of butter in them.  I tend to stick with the almond poppyseed option.

This is lucky, since my brother recently informed me that the lemon blueberry muffins have over 1,000 calories.

There are some things that I'd rather not know.

I keep trying to eat the muffins so they'll disappear (not because they are delicious or anything), but every time I finally finish, more appear in their place.

Honestly though, if they didn't keep appearing, I would probably be sad.

It's kind of a win-lose situation.

Now excuse me, the dog is barking and whining for her muffin.  I better eat up quick.

Wine and Basketball

I've decided since I can't seem to post with any real regularity that I should at least shoot for a weekly round up.

If I set my expectations low, maybe I'll actually meet them.

Last Saturday, I went wine tasting.  Five wineries in just a couple hours.  My favorite spot was a little mom & pop place that had food pairings (including a toasted mini marshmallow) with each wine taste.

I also tasted more red wine in one day than I ever thought possible.

It's not that I don't like red wine.  It's just that I haven't had much.  It gives my mom killer head aches, and my dad isn't the biggest fan, so it's around our house much.

Between my dad and I, we came back from wine tasting with 7 normal bottles of wine and 4 1.5 liter bottles.  Which is kind of large.

On a completely unrelated note, yesterday and today are two of my most favorite days of the year.

Why?

Two words: March madness.  

I love basketball.  As I mentioned last week.  The first two days of the NCAA men's basketball tournament are the best.  Period.

This year it's made ever better by the fact that I'm not working these days.  It's finals this week and spring break next week, so I don't have to work.

What can I say, my life is really rough.

Eat and Play Getaway

I'm away for the weekend, in a city known as the Palm Springs of the Evergreen State.

It's a pretty exotic vacation. I ventured with my grandfather, my dad and my dad's colleagues to the state basketball championships.

What can I say?! We're basketball addicts.

My grampa played at Oregon and was drafted into the NBA (he chose to go into teaching because it was a more stable career). Both my father and his brothers played in college. My dad was actually working at a basketball camp the summer I was born.

Pretty much, the sport is in my blood. I can watch it for hours, will play no matter how out of shape I am, and look forward to March like parents of small children look forward to nap time.

So this is a great vacation.

The other we are good at is eating. Between the basketball games, we have many different meals to fit in. 2 for 1 steaks, quality mexican food, an unknown number of winery tours, and all you can eat anything (we make sure to get our money's worth.).

For now we're resting up for the next big meal game, meaning everyone but me is napping.  But I am the youth on the trip.

I actually considered taking a run to work off some of lunch, but couldn't quite stir up the energy.

There is such a thing as too full.