Healthy Ice Cream

I originally saw the healthy one ingredient ice cream recipe over at TheKitchn.  All it is is frozen bananas all mashed up in a food processor. However, I never really felt tempted to try it because I just hate bananas!

When I was little, my mom, being a great mom, was always trying to get me to eat healthy.  She was really into getting me to "eat your bananas." I was never a big fan and one day I got really sick after eating a banana.  Then, I was diagnosed with the stomach flu.  Once I was healthy again, my mom offered me bananas.  I was skeptical because I got sick the last time, but she was adamant that I needed the potassium and that I would be just fine now that I didn't have the flu.  I ate that banana and proceeded to get sick immediately.  I don't know why, but I just can't stand raw bananas.  If they are all mashed up and baked in a banana bread I am totally fine (especially if there are chocolate chips involved).

Lately, I have been craving healthy sweets and I have simultaneously seen many variations on the 1 ingredient ice cream recipe.  The combination of these two things finally convinced me to give it a try.  I bought some bananas, froze them, and then food processed them.  I added in flavors that I like to help mask that horrible raw banana taste enhance the ice cream and it was amazing!

Now, mom, I will finally eat my bananas :)

Healthy Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 1/2 bananas, frozen and then cut into round slices
1 tbsp natural, creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
topping of your choice (I crumbled up cookie crumbs from the Crazy Layer Cookie Bars I have sitting in my room)

Directions:
1. Food process the banana rounds until well mashed.  Add in the peanut butter and honey and continue to process until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy immediately as a soft-serve style and sprinkle in your favorite toppings or, place in a container and freeze for a few hours until set.

Enjoy :)

Plus! Check out this post and some other fantastic posts on Foodie Friends Friday!!!

Crazy Layer Cookie Bars

Man it feels good to be back!

Today was my first time back in the kitchen doing some baking.  I hadn't in a while and I was missing it! I had a lovely work out in the morning back at the SERF (it opened today for the first time since summer). I had a nice work out on the arc-trainer.  I also ran 1 lap around the track and it didn't hurt! I have been stretching and icing my foot like crazy to take care of this tendinitis and I can't wait to be back running!

Then I got to work on these amazing cookie bars!  I saw the recipe over at Picky Palate and then I just adapted it a little.  I used this recipe for the sugar cookie layer and then I just had to use my chocolate chip cookie recipe for the top.

Afterwards, I took a trip to the park with my friends to play Bocce Ball.  It was a gorgeous day and I was grateful to experience some summer in Madison before classes get going again.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon before my work shift.  Plus, my team won!  I am typically not a huge Bocce fan, but today was awesome and I just love spending time with my girlfriends.

I got an awesome sandwich from Erbert and Gerbert's and then worked back at my second home: Union South.  It was strange at first to get back into work mode, but it was also super fun.  Also, the sandwich was fantastic! I ordered a sandwich with chicken, wasabi-cranberry sauce, cucumbers, lettuce, and cheddar. It was pretty delicious.

After work I met up with friends once again for a night out on the town!  I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in Madison while it is still summer.  It is strange to think that 1 week from today I will be back in classes and teaching for the first time at a middle school!

Crazy Layer Cookie Bars

Ingredients:
Sugar Cookie Layer:
adapted from Food Network
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp skim milk
Double Dark Chocolate Chip Layer:
adapted from Picky Palate
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz dark chocolate chips
Peanut Butter Layer:
adapted from Picky Palate
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer:
adapted from My Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tbsp vanilla
12 oz milk chocolate chips

Oven Ready 

Look at those layers!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
2. Make the sugar cookie layer: In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together.  In a large bowl beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and milk.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined.  Press the sugar cookie dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
3. Make the Double Dark Chocolate Chip layer: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars on high until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.  Spread this layer evenly over the sugar cookie dough.
4. Make the Peanut Butter Cookie layer: Beat the peanut butter and sugar until well combined.  Spread over the double dark chocolate chip dough.
5. Make the Chocolate Chip layer: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars on high until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, egg white, and vanilla.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  With this dough, just drop spoonfuls on top of the peanut butter layer until almost covered.  You may not use all the dough.
6. Bake the cookie bars in the oven for about 45 minutes.  The edges will begin to brown and the center will appear set.  Let cool completely for a few hours.

Enjoy :)

Southwest Quinoa Salad

I have a super duper recipe to share today! It is one of my new favorite salads or healthy food option.  It is so simple to throw together and it is the perfect healthy food for college kids! I made this at home and my entire family agreed: it was great! It is a quinoa salad packed with protein, veggies, and flavor! My mom wanted me to show the recipe to Whole Foods because she thinks that it is better than any of their quinoa salads.  That made me smile.  Of course it's better...it's made with love by me.

Since being in Madison, I have not been super healthy.  The house I live in has a chef that brings in lunch and dinner on school days and keeps the fridge and pantry well stocked with various items.  This is awesome.  The problem is that school hasn't started and so the chef hasn't started.  I love to cook, but the kitchen isn't really well stocked and my mini fridge just doesn't have the power to hold all the food I would like it to.  So, I have been doing a lot of snacking and eating out with friends.  Also, some of my friends parents have been kind enough to feed me as they move in their child.  I am pretty grateful for that because I am not sure what I would do otherwise.

I wish I had some of this quinoa salad in my fridge right now! I'm thinking that I will have to do some grocery shopping today and maybe make another! I still have a week and all my friends are moved in so no more parents.  I'm going to need some food and this will be perfect.

Southwest Quinoa Salad (adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup dry quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 cup frozen edamame, cooked according to directions
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Dressing:
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp southwest seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
1. Cook the quinoa in the 1 1/2 cups of water and salt according to directions.  Make sure to rinse the quinoa if it is not already.  When the quinoa is done, run a fork through it to break it up and place in a large bowl.
2.  Mix in the black beans, red pepper, cooked edamame, green onion, and cilantro.  Toss to combine.
3.  Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and drizzle over the salad.  I only used about 3/4 of the dressing because I don't like too much on my salads.
Enjoy :)

White Chocolate Blueberry Cookie Butter Cookies

The day before I left for school I saw a recipe on Kevin & Amanda for cookies made with blueberries, white chocolate, and biscoff spread.  I bought a jar of cookie butter from Trader Joe's at the beginning of the summer and I had yet to try it out.  I have heard that it is similar to biscoff spread and so while I was drooling over these cookies, the wheels in my head got spinning and I decided to try out the recipe with cookie butter instead!

The cookies came out super yummy and it was the perfect treat to bring back with me to school.  I have been sharing them with all my friends and they have made my room smell delicious!

White Chocolate Blueberry Cookie Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Cookie Butter
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line some baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper
2. Whisk flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter and both sugars on high until light and fluffy.  Beat in the cookie butter until well combined.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in the white chocolate and blueberries.
4. Drop tbsp sized cookies on the prepared cookie sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy :)

Note: To keep the cookies fresh and soft, place the cookies in a container with a piece of bread.

Honey Salmon with a Brown Butter Lime Sauce

I made this amazing salmon for my family and everyone agreed, it was the best.  It was super tasty and the salmon came out perfectly! I love salmon and whenever I can find a good recipe that involves salmon I am all over it.

We served the salmon with my Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a side of asparagus.  The salmon has a honey glaze and then you top it off with a brown butter lime sauce.  I had a little of the brown butter sauce left over and so I poured it over the cooked asparagus.  It was an amazing meal!

Honey Glazed Salmon (adapted from Cooking Classy)

Ingredients:
5 salmon filets
10 tsp flour, divided
10 tsp honey, divided
extra-virgin olive oil
zest of 2 limes
brown butter lime sauce (recipe below)

Directions:
1. Drizzle about 1 tbsp of olive oil into a pan and let it heat over medium heat.
2. Place salmon filets on a plate and coat each side of each filet with 1 tsp of flour.  Next, coat the tops each with 1 tsp of honey.  Place 2 filets at a time in the heated pan, honey side down.  Coat the bottoms with the honey at this point.  Cook each filet for 3-5 minutes in the heated pan and then flip and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes on the other side.
3. Sprinkle the lime zest over the cooked filets.  Drizzle the sauce on top and serve warm.

Brown Butter Lime Sauce

Ingredients:
6 tbsp salted butter
3 tbsp lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Heat butter over medium heat, swirling frequently, until it is melted, turns tan, and is fragrant.  This should take about 5 minutes. Once the butter has browned, whisk in the lime juice, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Whisk well and then pour over the salmon.  Or, if you make this ahead of time, simply let it sit, and then reheat and re-whisk before pouring over the salmon.  I used a little lime sauce over my asparagus as well.

Enjoy :)

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Yesterday there was comforting Mac and Cheese and today there's another super comforting food: Mashed Potatoes.  I have always loved mashed potatoes and this recipe turned out to be fantastic! I used red potatoes because I like the taste and when you leave the skin on you get a nice color in your mashed potatoes, but you can use other types of potatoes.

For this recipe, I also roasted garlic for the first time! It was very exciting.  The kitchen smelled amazing and then those little garlic cloves just popped right out of the bulb! I was amazed.  I hope you enjoy my Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 lb. potatoes (I used red)

1 bulb roasted garlic (instructions below)

1/4 cup skim milk

2 tbsp unsalted butter

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes with the skins on for about 20 minutes in a large pot of water.  You should be able to easily pierce the potatoes with a fork when done.  Drain the potatoes and place back in the pot.  Mash the potatoes with the roasted garlic, milk, and butter.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately, or place over a pot of boiling water to keep warm. 

Enjoy :)

How To Roast Garlic:

Ingredients:

1 whole bulb garlic, leave the skin on

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp lemon juice

kosher salt

Directions:

Slice about 1/4 in from the base of the garlic bulb so that you cut off the bottom and reveal the garlic cloves.  Place the bulb on a piece of tinfoil.  Place butter, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt on the garlic bulb and wrap the tinfoil around it.  Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 60 minutes.  The garlic cloves will just fall right out when it's done!

I just joined this fantastic group called Foodie Friends Friday and I am posting this recipe over there! You can also see it on A lil' Country Sugar.  Please check it out along with the other fantastic recipes! Have fun!

Panera Mac and Cheese

I am all moved in to my home in Madison! My parents helped me out yesterday and now I'm all set.  I can't believe my senior year is actually here! It's all very exciting, but it's a little strange to be back.  I have to get used to living on my own again.  It makes me crave friends and comfort.

Luckily, I have the best comforting recipe to share today! I love a good mac and cheese recipe and this one was just amazing.  It is the Panera Mac and Cheese made at home and it is the ultimate comfort food.  I also got to see a bunch of my friends and even enjoyed some frozen yogurt with them last night! It feels great to be back :)

Panera Mac and Cheese (adapted from Panera)

Ingredients:
16 oz whole wheat pasta (use small noodles like macaroni, shells, or small penne)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups half and half
4 oz white American cheese, broken into pieces
8 oz sharp white cheddar, shredded
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp hot sauce

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according to directions, drain and set aside in a large pot.
2. In a saucepan than can hold at least 4 quarts, melt the butter.  When butter starts to foam, whisk in the flour and continue to whisk for about 2 minutes.  Whisk in the half and half until there are no lumps and continue to whisk occasionally until the mixture thickens, about 8 minutes.  Slowly stir in the cheeses until completely melted and combined.  Whisk in the Dijon, salt, and hot sauce.  Pour the cheese mixture over the pasta and toss to combine.  Serve warm.

Enjoy :)

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Lately I have been surrounded by amazing treats!

I made what has been dubbed my "best ice cream ever."  It is a peanut butter ice cream with chopped up peanut butter cups mixed in.  It is awesome.  Plus, it is made with half and half so you can use fat-free if you want.  I used the regular stuff and it was pretty amazing that way...

Also, last night was my last night in Chicago with my family before I move back to Madison and we went to R.J. Grunts for dinner and then got cupcakes from Molly's Cupcakes.  We got The Ron Bennington, Cookee Monster, Kahlua, and Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting Yum yum!

Now I gotta go finish up my last minute packing shenanigans!!!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream (adapted from FoodieCrush)

Ingredients:
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups half and half
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped peanut butter cups

Directions:
1. Beat peanut butter and sugar until well combined.  Beat in 1 cup of the half and half until well combined.  Stir in the rest of the half and half until well combined.  Stir in the vanilla.  Let this mixture chill for at least 2 hours.
2.  Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the directions.  When you have about 10 minutes to go, add in the peanut butter cups.  Freeze for about 2 hours or until ice cream is set.  Let sit out 15 minutes before ready to serve.

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt

So I seriously need to start packing.  I don't know why I always do this, but I wait until the last second and then throw all my stuff together.  This typically leads to me missing quite a few things and feeling rather stressed.

I leave for school tomorrow and I could not be more excited! I can't wait to get back to Madison and see all my friends! I also can't wait to kick off my senior year and start my student teaching.  I just know that exciting times are ahead of me!  I am also on the exec council of my fraternity again and I'm in charge of Academic chair and Fundraising.  I have never done fundraising before so I'm pretty pumped for that.  On that same note, if anyone has any good fundraising ideas I'd appreciate if you would send them my way! In addition to all this, I am still working the same job with the same fantastic people as last year and the year before.  I know I'm going to be busy, but I'm pretty sure I'm also going to have tons of fun!

Today I need to pack all my stuff and then tomorrow me, my mom, and my dad are going to drive up to Madison to move me back into my fraternity house.  I have the same room and so I got to leave a bunch of my stuff there.  Not moving is going to make tomorrow so much easier!

Just when you thought all this fun excitement was over, there's also a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt to share! Yum! This stuff really does just taste like creamy, cold cookie dough.  I've pretty much been sneaking spoonfuls every time I pass by the fridge.  I found the recipe over at Crunchy Creamy Sweet and I just had to try it!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt (adapted from Crunchy Creamy Sweet)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt

Directions:
1. Beat the butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Slowly mix in the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Stir in the yogurt until well combined.
3.  Freeze the mixture for at least 2 hours.  Let sit out 15 minutes before ready to eat.

Enjoy :)

Cinnamon Vanilla Ice Cream

For the past few Mondays (besides the one's where I was on on my roadtrip) I talked about my half marathon training and completing a half marathon.  Now, I can't run due to tendonitis in my foot and I'm not sure what to talk about!

There is also the fact that I am leaving for school soon and I am nervous/excited and this usually leads to me being all over the place and unable to concentrate very well.  

I can't believer that I am starting yet another year of college and I really can't believe that it is my senior year.  I will be graduating in May and then I guess I have to "become a real person."  I am starting my part-time student teaching in a few weeks and I am really excited for that.  I also can't wait to get back to my friends and job at school.  However, I am scared to transition from being at home with my family and Bri to school where it's just me!   

Running typically helps me with all this stress and excitement, but since I can't run, I've been baking and making desserts.  It's sort of a problem, but no one's complaining.  I recently made a peach-blueberry crisp for my brother's last night at home.  This was delicious on it's own, but it was even better with the homemade cinnamon vanilla ice cream that I whipped up.  It isn't a creamy custard based ice cream, but it is extremely simple and super yummy.  It was perfect all melty on top of the crisp!

Cinnamon Vanilla Ice Cream (adapted from Food Network)

Ingredients:

4 cups half and half

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until the sugar and cinnamon are totally incorporated and dissolved.  Freeze in your ice cream maker according to directions and then place in the freezer to set for at least 2 hours.  Take out of the freezer 15 minutes before you are ready to serve.

Enjoy :)

Peach Blueberry Crisp

My brother left for college today!
I am so excited for him and I know he is going to do great and have an amazing time! Last night we celebrated his last night at home with a nice family dinner out and then I made a yummy dessert for after.

We had a ton of peaches lying around so I decided on a peach crisp.  But then, just to be exciting, I threw some blueberries in as well! It is only just occurring to me that the dessert was orange and blue and he is going to the University of Illinois! I mean, I totally planned that...

I made an apple crisp recently and I made this crisp in a pretty similar way.  It turned out super yummy and it just felt like a good summer dessert.  We topped off the warm crisp with some cinnamon vanilla ice cream and it was awesome.

Good luck, Zack! I know you are just going to love college!  I'll be visiting soon :)

Peach Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:
8 peaches, pitted and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
2 cups blueberries
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. In a greased 12 inch skillet, place the prepared peaches and blueberries.  Toss with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, oats, almonds, both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Stir in the melted butter until you have a crumbly mixture that resembles wet sand.  Sprinkle the topping evenly over the peaches and blueberries and press down with your hands.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the topping is a deep golden brown.

Enjoy :)

Eggplant "Meat"balls

I have not been having the best luck these days...

My foot started hurting pretty bad after a zumba class the other day.  I tried running the next day, but it was worse! So, I went to the doctor and found out that I have tendonitis in my foot and I can't run for 3-4 weeks! I'm so bummed.  This was not how I wanted to end my summer.

Then, yesterday I woke up to discover that my eyelid was so swollen that I couldn't open my eye all the way.  It became less puffy as the morning went on, but it was still visibly swollen.  On top of all this, the skin around my eyes was really red and dry.  I had no clue what was going on!  Luckily, or coincidentally, I had an eye doctor appointment scheduled for that day.  I found out that, thankfully, there's nothing wrong with my eyes, and it's a skin problem.  So, now I can't wear eye make up, I have to go to a dermatologist, and I look sort of like a scary zombie.  Plus, I limp, which just adds to the zombie effect.

However, I did make some freaking awesome vegetarian meatballs.  My friends and I had a Godfather night, where we made pasta, meatballs, cannoli, and watched the Godfather.  A few of my friends and my boyfriend are vegetarians, so I decided to just make vegetarian meatballs!  I had heard of eggplant meatballs and so I decided to give it a try! They turned out to be really simple, super yummy, and even the meat eaters enjoyed them!

Eggplant "Meat"balls (adapted from HealthyDelish)

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
1/2 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp kosher salt

Directions:
1. Peel the eggplants and then shred them with the coarse side of a grater.  Sprinkle the shredded eggplant with the salt and toss to combine.  Drain out as much water as you can by squeezing the shredded eggplant with your hands.  I created 5 large balls of eggplant that I squeezed water out of and then placed on paper towels to drain some more.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Place the eggplant, breadcrumbs, parmesan, and egg in a medium bowl.  Stir with a spoon until well combined.  Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls of eggplant and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.   This recipe will make about 20-24.  Mold balls into tight "meat"balls and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn each meatball over and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.  Serve over pasta!

Enjoy :)

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Yesterday was my Mommy's birthday!

I really wanted to do something special for her and so I decided to make her favorite cupcakes in cake form!  Her favorite cupcakes are my Skinny Mocha Cupcakes.  She just loves that the cake is "healthy" and the frosting, well, mocha is one of her favorite flavors! Typically, her birthday cake is an ice cream cake with coffee ice cream, but I wanted this year to be a little more special.

I used the same Skinny Mocha Cupcake recipe, but make 3, 8 in. cakes, and then layered them up with some amazing mocha buttercream.

So pretty! Usually, the treats I make are not the most aesthetically pleasing, but  really loved how this turned out!

Three layers of amazing chocolate cake and mocha buttercream! It was the perfect cake for my mom and she loved it!  Happy Birthday Mommy!!! I love you!

This post is featured on Foodie Friends Friday

Easy Cannoli

Godfather night.  That's right, my friends and I decided to throw a get together and have it be Godfather themed.  I really can't take credit for this at all.  I have never seen the godfather, but my friend's Katie and Michael came up with the idea and since I just love to cook so much, I offered to host.

I was just in Boston and Bri and I had a lovely evening in the north end complete with good Italian food, lots of wine, and cannoli from Mike's Pastry.

Mike's has amazing cannoli! Since being there, I've wanted to try my hand at making some of my own.  I figured that cannoli would be the perfect treat for Godfather night!  However, I just didn't have time to make the shells and go through all the hassel associated with that.  So, I decided to use sugar cones!  I know it's not authentic, but it's easy and it's going to be perfect for our dinner party!

Easy Cannoli (adapted from Serious Eats)

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk ricotta, drained
8 oz. marscapone cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla or Grand Mariner
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
mini chocolate chips
ice cream cones

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together except for the chocolate chips and ice cream cones.
2. Fill the cones with the filling and top with the mini chocolate chips

Enjoy :)


I even shared this recipe on Foodie Friends Friday!!!  You can vote for this recipe and others over at Everything in the Kitchen Sink!  Happy Friday!

Also seen on: Happy Home Blog.

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse

It's Julia Child's 100th birthday! In honor of the amazing chef, I made her chocolate mousse!  I didn't want a huge amount so I made a baby chocolate mousse.  It was the perfect little treat to celebrate the birthday of an amazing woman.

I love cooking Juila Child's recipes because they always make me feel classy and accomplished.  So far I have tried out two versions of her Boeuf Bourguignon: Vegetarian and Traditional.  I have also made her Pommes Dauphinois.  I even made Cherry Clafouti!  Julia was an inspirational woman and chef and I love making her food!

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
1 egg, separated
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp orange liqueur (I used Grand Mariner)
1 1/2 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp strong coffee
3 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1/4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/4 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp orange liqueur

So tiny and cute!

Directions:
1. Bring a pan of water to a simmer over medium-low heat.  Fill a separate bowl with ice water.
2. In a medium bowl, place the egg yolk and sugar and beat until mixture falls back on itself.  It should be thick and pale.  Beat in the orange liqueur.  Place the bowl over the simmering water and beat for 3 to 4 minutes.  Mixture should turn foamy.  Move the bowl to the ice water now and beat for another 3-4 minutes over the ice water.  Mixture should look like mayo.
3. Place chocolate and coffee in a small pan and melt over the simmering water.  Remove from the heat and mix in the butter to create a smooth cream.  Beat the chocolate into the egg yolk mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg white and salt until a soft peak forms.  Beat in 1/4 tbsp of sugar until a stiff peak forms.  Fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture to your chocolate mixture.  Fold in the rest of the egg white mixture.  Refrigerate for about 2 hours.
5.  To serve: make the whip cream by whisking the heaving whipping cream with the sugar, vanilla, and orange liqueur until a stiff peak forms.  Top your mousse with the whipped cream and enjoy!

Enjoy :)