you can do banana pudding like this, ooh pretty . . .

So early yesterday morning I took Fairb to the airport.  He is going to be gone for three weeks! to make matters worse, my parents are also going to be gone for three weeks. that means I have no one too cook for! (my children don't count, they only eat cereal, candy and dirt) Last night however, I had plenty of people to cook for, about 40 people to be precise. I cooked for ward temple night. Whenever our ward goes to the temple they are shocked by how we can get so many to show up, we offer dinner after, duh!  So I cooked Grecian chicken, with some fresh green beans and watermelon, some marinated cucumbers and watermelon. For dessert I made the magnolia's banana pudding but instead of making a huge pan of it, I dropped the nilla wafers and bananas in the bottom of a plastic cup and topped it with the pudding. Then made is oh so beautiful buy topping it with a strawberry. It worked perfectly!

What can I say, it was a hit. I am warming myself up to cook for 100 people for my brother-in-laws wedding in three weeks.  . .

my poll

notice my new poll over there --------------------->

Krista's Caramel Brownies

Marrying into my family is not an easy thing.  Everyone gets scrutinized, no one is safe. When Lisa brought home Troy he was instantly made fun of because he was a male cheerleader for one year at University of Utah. A cheerleader? Give me a break dude!

Laurie, who was scared poopless to come around our family, was instantly mocked because when she went out to dinner with our family for the first time all she ordered was a baked potato and put ketchup on it.  We all order steak and you are getting a potato, are you serious chick?

When I started to date Fairb, my dad took me to dinner and said, " I wouldn't give this guy a no, but a HELL no."  My grandmother asked the family to fast and pray that I would STOP dating him. I mean he had a tattoo for goodness sake!

Krista had it no easier, we weren't too sure that she was the one for Sonny. Too quiet, too shy. We thought she would turn him into a seminary teacher, and we wanted him to be a doctor.

It wasn't until she brought us these brownies was she accepted into the circle. Now we insist that she bring them to every party. This isn't Krista's first appearance on the blog, she also taught me how to make pizza.

These brownies are easy and delicious.

Krista's Caramel Brownies

1 chocolate cake box mix

3/4 c evaporated milk

50 unwrapped caramels (one bag)

1/3 c evaporated milk

chocolate chips

Small ingredient list huh? Now looking at it, no oil or butter, these are kinda low fat! Sweet! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While your kids are painstakingly unwrapping the caramels, trying not to take a bite out of each of them, you can mix the batter.  The cake mix, and 3/4 c evaporated milk.  Mix it with a spoon, not a whisk, because the batter is extremely thick. 

Spread the batter into you favorite brownie pan that has been sprayed with Pam (I am using my edge pan, thanks Sherrie again!)

Bake in the oven for 6 minutes. Meanwhile, add 1/3 c evaporated milk to the unwrapped caramels and melt till smooth on the stove (use med-low so they don't burn). When the brownies have cooked 6 minutes, pull them out and sprinkle the desired amount of chocolate chips and pour the caramel on top.

Pop them back in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they start to put away from the edges and you poke a toothpick in and don't see brownie batter.

Of course eventually, all the in-laws were accepted into the family.  It turns out our initial instincts were dead wrong on all of them. Everyone married their perfect spouse.

I'm back jack!

I am back from vacation, and I need a vacation. Those of you who are my facebook friends probably got annoyed by my constant moblie photo updates. We had a blast in the OC, hitting Disneyland and the beach.

Sunday was Mother's Day and I was pretty sure that my husband had forgotten, being thoughtful really isn't his deal unfortunately. The children were really concerned that they hadn't got me a present. Alta woke up early all on her own and made me a piece of toast with honey on it, some yogurt garnished with grapenuts, and a big glass of milk. She sat on the couch and waited for me to come out of my room (because she knows I don't like to be woken up!) to present me with breakfast! It was very sweet.

Fairb did come through ( I have made it very clear that Mother's day trumps every holiday, I told my primary children it was the most important holiday of the year!) and he got me something I have been wanting for a long time. This . . . .

Its a pasta roller and cutter that attaches to a Kitchen Aid.  Porter and Alta came running out of Fairb's office with two wrapped presents. Alta dropped the heavy one right on my foot. Despite it landing on my foot, heavy is good thing.  He also got me the ravioli maker! This is going to bring me hours of fun.

Naturally, I couldn't wait to use it, so I busted it out after church.  I loved it and the pasta came out great the first try.  If you are my bff you can borrow it.  Thanks Fairb and children for making a great Mother's Day!~

Happiest place on earth

No cooking the rest of the week, I am on vacation with the dam. Check out my facebook for some good moblie photos.

red velvet cupcakes

I have had an absolute obsession with cupcakes lately!  It all started when my friend Kris gave me the Magnolia cookbook. Oddly enough, I tried the vanilla cupcake recipe and hated it! I called for unsalted butter (which I could accept because most baking recipes do, I just never adhere, unsalted butter is just a tease) but there was no salt in the WHOLE recipe. My instincts were telling me no, but the bakery's notoriety was pressuring me to follow the recipe as written. I even followed the recipe for the salt-less frosting.  So in the end I should have gone with my instincts, they were terrible, I threw most of them away.  One day I will try it again with salt. Now I need to go to New York to try their vanilla cupcakes to taste if they are truly making money off these flavorless cupcakes, or if they are jerking our chains.

Now the same friend, brought me red velvet Sprinkles cupcakes ( don't you wish Kris was your friend,  are you cool enough? I could introduce you.) from Arizona. They were incredible! I was dying, they were so good. I wouldn't even let the children look at them.

Next I heard about this bakery in Provo. They were out of red velvet, so I got the vanilla. They were pretty dang good, but they were 2.25 a piece! and these are pretty tiny cupcakes. Holy Moley! Who do they think they are? Just because you were featured on Rachael Ray doesn't make you exclusive! (yes I am still horribly bitter, have you been watching the competition? pulleezze!)

So I returned to the magnolia cookbook to try their red velvet cupcakes (this recipe called for salt), and topped it with cream cheese frosting.

Here is the recipe ( is this legal? I sure hope so)

3 1/3 c cake flour

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 c sugar

3 eggs

6 T red food coloring (I used two small bottles, which was about 4 T)

3 T cocoa

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 1/2 t salt

1 1/2 c buttermilk

1 1/2 t cider vinegar

1 1/2 t baking  soda

Sift the flour (that is the first time I have ever sifted anything in my life, I'm still not convinced it does anything) and set aside. In a big bowl combine sugar and softened butter and cream till fluffy (about 5 min). Add eggs one at a time, beating well.

In a different bowl combine food coloring, vanilla and cocoa, then add to batter and beat well. In a measuring cup combine buttermilk and salt. In a small bowl combine baking soda and vinegar.

Add flour and buttermilk to sugar in parts, by alternating flour and buttermilk. With each addition, beat till just combined.  Next add the vinegar  and beat till smooth.

Put into lined cupcake tins and bake for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Top with cream cheese frosting.

So they are good, but they weren't sprinkles good. I keep working on it!

The salad dressed to impress

Maybe its just me, but its seems like salads with fruit and poppy dressing are all the rage these days. At any given Relief Society luncheon or bunkco club you will see a salad like this with a different variation. To know the poppy seed dressing is to know an infinite combinations of great salads. In the salad pictured above I did;

Romaine lettuce

Baby spinach

sliced strawberries

diced mangoes

baby sweet peppers (don't know these peppers? look for them they are so good!)

slivered almonds

shredded mozzarella

poppy seed dressing

The possibilities are indeed endless. Candied walnuts or almonds, mandarin oranges, feta cheese or goat cheese, any berries, advacados, pine nuts, dried cranberries, apples, pears . . . it goes on and on and on.

Here is the dressing, this comes from my grandma

Poppy seed dressing

2-3 T diced red onion ( I just cut off a hunk of onion, don't bother measuring I just pulled that number out of thin air)

1/3 c red wine vinegar

1/3 c sugar

1/4 t dry mustard

1 t salt

2/3 c oil (what ever kind you like)

1 T poppy seeds

Do this all in your blender. Combine the onion, sugar, vinegar, dry mustard and salt and puree the crap out of it (till you don't see the onion anymore). While the blender is going, slowly add the oil until well combined. Add poppy seeds and give the blender a couple pulses.

So there it is, it will last in the fridge for almost forever. A helpful hint is to toss just the lettuce with the dressing, then add all the toppings, that way all the nuts and berries don't sink to the bottom, and the cheese doesn't get soggified by the dressing.

So you can impress your book group now, and be in with what's "cook" in the salad world.