October

I'm inexplicably excited for October this year. It's my favorite month, largely due to all the scary Halloween stuff, tasty apple and pumpkin stuff, and all the birthday stuff. My uncle's birthday is the 10th, my mom's is the 18th, mine is the 23rd, and my friend Travis' is the 29th (I think). One of the sites I hang around, a virtual pet site called Aywas, has tons of events going on this month, so I'm definitely excited about those. I just spent all day drawing for a bunch of their contests. Mostly, I think I'm just looking forward to a month filled with good stuff when the rest of the year hasn't treated me so well thus far.

If you want to check out Aywas, I get stuff for referring people, so use my link to sign up. They do all the member applications by hand, so it might take a little while to get your confirmation email. The site's a great place to sell artwork or make real life money on their contests. There's lots of pets to collect, or you can make customs and breed them to make unique pets. Below is one I made for the monthly shop contest:

Just to make sure this post is more than me being really excited that October starts in a few hours and I'll know if I won those contests, here's a recipe for pumpkin cake that needs to be shared. I made it a few times last year,a and it was a big hit with everybody. I recommend using Betty Crocker's Cream Cheese frosting. Don't use Pillsbury - they have wonderful cakes and terrible icings. XD I leave the nuts out. I only like walnuts in brownies. Also, a 12 X 18 pan is HUGE. You can halve the recipe and use a standard 9 X 13 if that's too much cake for you. :)

Unrelated to cake but related to cooking, I made a new barbecue sauce recipe! It's apple spice flavored, and after I tweak it just a little bit, I'll post the recipe. 

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients
2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 12x18 inch pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time.

Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread batter into prepared 12x18 inch pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting.

Habenero Pineapple BBQ Sauce

So I made a barbecue sauce a few months back on a whim when the boyfriend and I found fresh habenero peppers at Wal Mart. He loves things that are spicy enough to give you ulcers, so we bought a bunch and I threw this together. It's the first sauce recipe I've ever come up with, and by some miracle, it's freaking amazing. It's got a good amount of kick to it, and the batch is small, so if you want to be able to really slather it on, I'd recommend doubling or tripling the recipe, all except for the habeneros so the spiciness is more diluted. I want to make a batch with cayenne peppers instead of habeneros to see how that tastes, too, but I haven't done it yet.

It's on Instructables if you want pictures (but it's easy, I promise). http://www.instructables.com/id/Habenero-Pineapple-BBQ-Sauce/

Ingredients:

3 Habañero peppers
1/2 cup pineapple
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup molasses
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hickory Liquid Smoke

Other things you'll need:
A blender or food processor
A meduim-sized pot

1. Preparing your Peppers
Remove the seeds from the peppers. You'll want to wear gloves so you don't get the oils on your hands. Cut about 1/4 of the pineapple into chunks. Put both of those into your blender or food processor and liquefy.
 
2. Simmer
Mix all of your ingredients together, including the liquified mix, in a pot. Simmer until it reaches the desired consistancy, which takes about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep the pineapple sugars from separating.
 
3. EAT IT ON EVERYTHING
Enjoy!

  

Potato Rolls

Around Easter, I made some potato rolls. I followed a recipe from allrecipes, but somehow screwed it up a lot. XD The rolls were great, anyway, though. I'll post my version here, and you can check out the original here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Colleens-Potato-Crescent-Rolls/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1.Place potatoes in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool, and mash.
2.In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
3.When yeast is ready, mix in 1 cup mashed potatoes, sugar, butter, eggs, salt, and 3 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough has become stiff but still pliable. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, and up to 5 days.
4.Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it a little, then make balls of dough about 2 1/2 inches across. Cover, and let rise for 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
5.Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

I totally know that the original recipe is for crescents, but that seemed like too much work at the time. Also, I made these a second time with different yeast, which happened to have expired 2 years ago. Don't do that. You get balls of dough that are crispy on the outside and really hard to digest, according to my boyfriend.

Whiskey Cookies

These "Wicked Whiskey Chocolate Cookies" are from The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book by Camilla V. Saulsbury. The icing below is from the same book. I didn't try the icing, but the recipe is there. The cookies came out well.

Cookies

Ingredients:
-1 19.5-19.8 oz package of brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker's Dark Chocolate)
-1/4 cup of whiskey (I used Seagrams VO)
-1/4 cup of unsalted butter, melted
-1 large egg
-1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the brownie mix, butter, egg, and whiskey together with a wooden spoon or spatula until moistened. Stir in the choclate chips.
3. Drop by teaspoons onto the cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
4. Bake 9-12 minutes until cracked in appearance and just barely set at the center.



Icing

Ingredients:
-6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
-1/4 cup of whiskey or bourbon
-1/4 cup of light corn syrup
-4 ounces of coarsely chopped baking chocolate
-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
-2 cups of sifted powdered sugar

Combine the butter, whiskey, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil, then remove it from the heat and wisk in chocolate until melted. Wisk in vanilla and gradually add powdered sugar untilthe frosting is a spreadable consistancy. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

The Ramen Chronicles Part II

In the continuing saga of young people left to cook for themselves (Part I is here), I've discovered another way to prepare a simple pack of chicken-flavored stove top ramen.

I prepare the noodles as I did in Part I. The spices are what differs. I keep the pepper, but replace the oregano with Italian seasoning. You can buy a bottle of Italian seasoning at the grocery store, but for those of you out there who like homegrown herbs, it is a mix of basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savory, sage, and thyme. I add quite a bit, but spices are meant to be added to taste. Experiment on your own. The mix of spices and the pepper add a lot of flavor and make it delicious.

Biscuit Recipe!

I make these every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is one of those recipes I didn't need to tweak in the least bit. It's from my 5th grade cooking class, believe it or not. :P

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal.
4. Add buttermilk and stir until well blended. The mixture will be moist and lumpy, but you should not see excess flour.
5. Use a table spoon to spoon the dough onto lightly greased cookie sheets about an inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges start to brown.

Delicious Icing for Gingerbread Cookies

I was making some Betty Crocker gingerbread cookies last night, and on the side of the box, there was a recipe for icing. I modified it and now I'm sharing it. Enjoy. :D

1 cup of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together until smooth. It came out very thick and paste-like for me.

An Awesome Muffin Recipe

This is a recipe I found almost a year ago on www.allrecipes.com. If you like it, go and give it 5 stars to make its creator happy. :) And an addition from me: add in about a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Ingredients



2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).



2.Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and oil. Pour all at once into the well in the flour mixture. Mix quickly and lightly with a fork until moistened, but do not beat. The batter will be lumpy. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups.


3.Variations: Blueberry Muffins: Add 1 cup fresh blueberries. Raisin Muffins: Add 1 cup finely chopped raisins. Date Muffins: Add 1 cup finely chopped dates. Cheese Muffins: Fold in 1 cup grated sharp yellow cheese. Bacon Muffins: Fold 1/4 cup crisp cooked bacon, broken into bits.


4.Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden.

The Ramen Chronicles Part I

Being under 25 and left alone occasionally to cook for myself, ramen noodles are a regular occurrence. Unlike most people, however, I don't just boil water and add a flavor packet. I'll be posting some of my ideas and thoughts as I make my ramen.

First of all, brands.
-Nissan: great noodles, a little lacking on flavor
-Maruchan: tons of flavor, but the noodles can be mushy and a little slimy
-Smack: not sure if you can still find it. Firm noodles and a good amount of flavor

Here's how I prepare a package of chicken-flavored Nissan ramen.

The package calls for 2 cups of water brought to a boil. As soon as large bubbles start rising to the surface, I put in the noodles. I also add a pinch or two each of oregano and black pepper. As the noodles soften and pull apart, I dump in the flavor packet. It helps it cook into the noodles. Finish cooking the noodles and enjoy!

Tim's Scrambled Eggs

This is a recipe I created for my boyfriend. I'll have it posted on All Recipes once I have a definite cooking time and instructions, but for now, here it is. :)


You need:
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup of milk
-1/4 tsp of pepper
-1/4 tsp of celery salt
-1/4 tsp of salt
-1 chopped cayenne pepper
-1/4 cup of corn


Wisk together the eggs, milk, pepper, salt, and celery salt. Stir in the corn and cayenne pepper. Coat the bottom of a medium pan with butter. Pour in the egg mixture and prepare. Like I said, the instructions are still being worked on. You can prepare this like scrambled eggs (which I do) or like an omelette (which is what I tried to do the first time).