I get by with a little help from my friends

My birthday was last week and I have to admit that it wouldn't have been any fun without my awesome friends that came out and helped celebrate. These crazy kids occasionally help me bake from time to time (help as in taste test/eat what I make.) But they aren't always available, so I have surrounded myself with "friends" to keep me company when I bake.

Meet my measuring cups and spoons. That's right. That is a goose cup and giraffe teaspoon. Aren't they oh so cute?!!!

The newest member of the team is Ralph, the alligator. He helps me do dishes by the sink. Ralph was a big help in making the cookies for this blog (seeing that no measuring needed to be done.) The cookies: Ritz Bark Cookies. Ever since their first appearance to my real live friends, there's been a hot demand for them. They were especially requested for my senior voice recital after being loved at my junior recital. Now that my school days are done, I usually make them around Christmas. I hope you enjoy them as much as everyone else does!

Ritz Bark Cookies (another gem from my mother's recipe book):
Ingredients needed:
Ritz Crackers
Peanut butter (creamy, not chunky)
Chocolate Bark (chocolate candy coating can be a substitute)

Melt chocolate bark in a double boiler. Spread a dab of peanut butter between two crackers and then coat with chocolate. Place on wax paper to cool.

Erika's Extras: Prep by making all the cracker and PB "sandwiches" first. Using two forks to move and flip the crackers around is quite helpful. Put in freezer to cool faster.

Bake Well and Prosper!

Who you calling turkey?

Well, Thanksgiving was last week. For the first time in my life I seriously pre-gamed Thanksgiving. I had turkey, stuffing, etc on Monday and Tuesday for lunch. This made me declare the whole week as Thanksgiving week....in other words: No holds barred! Stuff yourself silly for a whole week.

Speaking of silly....what do you get when you put two best friends together who are up way past their bedtime making dessert? A silly movie with their newly made Turkey Cake Pops.

Ah, yes. You heard right. Turkey Cake Pops. I have no idea how to not make that sound as bad as it does. It's a ball of cake on a lollipop stick with decorations that make it look like a turkey. So there. A Turkey Cake Pop.

*sigh* See picture below for clarification.

I had stumbled upon bakerella's site of cuteness through the greatly loved cakewrecks site's twitter. I decided that I would make these time consuming cutenesses of dessert. Of course, with my friend Jen's help.

Jen and I went to Allen's for Thanksgiving. Allen and all his friends are serious foodies and professional chefs. I had to pull out the big guns to impress them, ya know what I mean? So, Tukey Cake Pops it was. It could have been a real mess. They could have looked like balls of poo. And yet, they turned out to be OH SO CUTE! So cute that one didn't want to ruin them by eating them. They were hard to gobble up (pun intended.)

Everyone loved them and they tasted great!!! I was even asked if I was a pastry chef! *one tear of joy gleaming in eye*

Turkey Cake Pops (from: http://www.bakerella.com/hope-these-put-a-smile-on-your-face/ AND http://www.bakerella.com/youll-want-to-gobble-these-right-up/)

Items needed (all can be found on amazon.com):

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13x9 cake)

1 can frosting (16 oz.)

Wax paper

Chocolate Candy melts (1 lb. pkg.)

Lollipop Sticks

Edible Ink Pens

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (You may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.) Erika's Extra Notes: Good idea to have plastic kitchen glove/surgical gloves to smush cake and frosting together and then make them into the ball shape.

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50.) Erika's Extra Noted: Bigger sized cake balls are easier to decorate, so maybe try Susan B. Anthony sized balls.

4. Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 second intervals, stirring in between.)

5. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert less than halfway.)

6. Place them in freezer for a little while to firm up.

7. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered, remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off too.

8. Place in a styrofoam blcok to dry. Erika's Extra Notes: Styrofoam is NOT environmentally friendly, so if you don't have any laying around, use a cardboard box and carefully poke a scissor or exacto knife into the top to create sturdy holes for the sticks.

9. Once dry, add decorations and draw faces on with an edible ink pen.

I used chocolate covered pecans as the heads, mini sugar hearts for that dangly throat thing, cut up jelly bellies for the nose, and Mike & Ikes for the tail feathers.

Bake well and prosper!

Ahhhh.....the Sweet Taste of Victory

Sorry to all my faithful readers out there (all 3 of you). I have been slacking and haven't posted anything in awhile. Well, a girl has a right to take a break after a marathon, now doesn't she?

Ahhhh....the marathon. If you would have asked me within the last two miles of the marathon if I would ever want to do a marathon again I would have said, "Are you crazy?!!!!" But now it looks like tons of my friends and even the possibility of my freshman HS bball coach will run again next year and of course that means I have to run. Of course.

It truly was an amazing event. The crowds of people in NYC cheering us mere running mortals on was inspiring, uplifting, and just plain awesome! It was a party all the way until the end (although those last two miles all I could hear was my little running coach voice in my head saying, "Just keep running, just keep running!" in the Finding Nemo voice and "You're almost there!!!! Just keep running!!!!") My sister called later in the day and asked how I did. I set her up with, "I got a medal!" She said excitedly, "You did?!!!!" And I said with a devilish grin on my face, "Yep! Along with everyone else who finished." Ha!

But there IS one contest where I won. The Brownie from a Box vs. The Brownie from Scratch competition. It all started last year with the reception desk at my office debating which tastes better. We all were pretty sure the boxed version tasted better because we all have eaten some nasty homemade versions. Well, I volunteered to make some from scratch and Maggie said she would make some from a box. They had to be simple without extra fudge, peanutbutter, M&Ms etc in it. Well, I had never made brownies from scratch before and I was very intrigued to see what I could do. I researched them online and stumbled upon the NY Times Supernatural Brownie Recipe. Well, long story short....Maggie's brownies bombed and mine were truly supernatural. In a taste test mine won all the votes and the heart of my coworkers. I have made them numerous times after because of requests for the utterly splenderifc brownies. (Oh, and I didn't win a medal, but I did win a little McDonald's toy of a zebra on wheels. Woohoo!!!!)Supernatural Brownies

Recipe http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/dining/111brex.html?ex=1333944000&en=f42f6ec82e61834b&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado (Erika's Extra Note: light brown sugar works fine as well)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional

1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. (Erika's note: This recipe is so buttery I've never needed to use parchment paper.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.

2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.

Yield: 15 large or 24 small brownies.

Note: For best flavor, bake 1 day before serving, let cool and store, tightly wrapped.

Bake well and prosper!!

Thank You, Off the Mark

I love comics. I love comics so much that my senior year of high school I wrote an essay about how everyone in the world should read the daily comics. It would make the world a better place.

Well, as a baker, I found this horribly wrong and deliciously funny.

Thanks for all the laughs Off the Mark! (In particular, this one:)
http://comics.com/off_the_mark/2009-11-12/

Go to comics.com for more.

Next blog: A great recipe for what to do when you have lots of eggs to use before they expire.

Bake well and prosper!

Pile o'cookies

So, I made the banana bread and froze some for my parents' arrival for the big marathon weekend. (Next entry I will recap the marathon, but for now, yes, I DID finish!) Also, I decided to make some cookies they have never had before - cherry garcia cookies.

Now, usually when I bake, I have music on. I've been known to make Beethoven brownies, Jesus Christ Superstar Trials and Tribulations Almond Joy Cake (long story...), and Black Eyed Peas cookies. This past time was no exception....I listened to a past time....Oldies. I LOVE Oldies. I'm talking about the 50s and 60s and early 70s. The golden oldies and the hippie oldies. I was serenaded by the Beatles while making these cookies. Oh, and so was my cookie dough.

So, if by now you haven't figured out that I am a dork, well, I am very concerned about you. And if by now you don't believe that I am messy, well, that is because I sometimes hide it from you. But, I will be fair and share. Exhibit A is a fine example of a mix of flour and sugar that I accidentally dropped on the floor instead of in the bowl. Notice how I slightly pushed it aside, but I knew vacuuming it would be futile until all baking was done. Exhibit B is a great example of why I don't clean up until finishing the assembly of the baked good's goodness (dough.) More sugar was dropped just shortly after the flour and sugar episode. Yeah, I am that helpless. And yes, this (plus more!) messiness happens every time I bake.

However, do not despair. The cookies turned out just fine.

Cherry Garcia Cookies (from http://homecooking.about.com/od/cookierecipes/r/blcookie32.htm with my own tips thrown in)

Ingredients:
1 cup dried cherries
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, (packed)
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely-chopped macadamia nuts (optional) (I've never put these in and quite frankly think it might be overkill)

Preperation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place dried cherries in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit 30 minutes to plump up. Drain well, pat dry, and coarsely chop. (I don't chop. I think they are perfect while whole.)

Whisk together salt, baking soda, and flour in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Add flour mixture to butter mixture half at a time and mix until combined. Fold in cherries, white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and macadamia nuts. Refrigerate cookie dough 30 to 45 minutes to firm up.

Drop dough by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, placing cookies about 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Cool 10 minutes on cookie sheets before removing to racks to cool completely.

Bake well and prosper!