Today's Grocery list & Baking Ideas

Today, I had the idea to make some brownies or chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, I am planning to take a trip to my local grocery store here in Miami,Fl. My pantry is more or less full, but I would like to get in on some Labor Day sales. However I always end up thinking of new or old favorite things to bake and cook. With the exception of a sale, my weekly shopping budget is only $60-$80 usually it consist of meat and poultry, vegetables,cooking oil, rice and etc. And then when theres a sale I buy in bulk so the rest of the weeks, I am only spending money on important items that run out very quickly.

Heres what I plan to buy;
Orange juice (gallon) only $2.49
Cranberry juice (gallon) $5.19 buy 1 get one free
Pepsi/Mountain Dew 4 12pk cans for $10.00 plus get one free
Cereal $4.09 buy 1 get one free ( am a huge cereal fan)
Milk$3.79 (gallon)
Eggs $1.79
Brownie Mix 2 for $4.00 ( this is only for storage, because I love to make my famous brownies from scratch)
Cherries
Walnuts
Chocolate chip morsels
Cocoa powder
Water 24pk $4.00

Luxurious Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

2 Cream Cheese pkgs (8 oz.)
Sour Cream (16 oz.)
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
3/4 Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/3 Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (optional)
1 Cup of Cherries (dried)
1 Teaspoon of Mint Extract (optional)
2 Tbsps of Flour
3 Tbsps of Butter (melted)
3 Tbsps of Sugar
Chocolate Fudge cake mix (plus required ingredients)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two deep pans with foil or parchment paper, with ends extended over pans.
2. Mix graham crumbs, 3 tbsps of sugar, and 3 tbsps of butter well.
3. Pack firmly into the bottom of pans and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Cream cream cheese and sour cream, then add 1 cup of sugar and eggs. Then add flour, mint extract, walnuts or pecans, cherries and blend well.
5. Mix together the chocolate cake mix and its ingredients, then pour half (or even less then half)of the cake mix into one of the pans, and the other half in the other pan, (which has the baked graham crumbs). Eye ball it, because the chocolate cake has a tendency to run over.
6. Pour the cheesecake batter over the chocolate fudge cake batter of both pans.
7. Bake for 1 to an hour and a half, until center is set. Cool completely, lift cheesecake out with foil or parchment handles and serve.

* Not recommended for people on diets!

This was a very rich chocolate-cheesecake I created for Christmas and it was wonderful. You get the best of both worlds, its like ice cream and cake. Prep time might be an hour, but give it a try and enjoy.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 (8 oz) Pkgs of Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 Cups of Butter, softened
2 Cups Sifted Confectioners Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter until creamy.
2. Mix in vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners sugar.

*For an all white frosting, you can use the clear imitation vanilla extract.
This frosting goes good with some pecans or almonds sprinkled on top of cupcakes or on the side of your cake.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti Recipe

1 Cup of Almonds
3/4 Cup of Gramulated Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon of Almond Extract
1 Cup Bittersweet Chocolate
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Whisk eggs and vanilla extract together, then set aside.
3. Beat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until combined.
4. Gradually add the egg mixture, chocolate, and almonds, then beat until a dough forms.
5. With floured hands and surface, divide dough in half.
6. Roll each dough into a log.
7. Transfer logs to a lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, let cool and enjoy.

Breakfast with Sophie!

My mom was a nurse, and she took care of a sweet but tough little old lady name sophie. Her name may sound soft, but she was far from it. But, from time to time I would visit and help out. My real interest in baking came from visiting sophie, (because I was more of a cook since I was 10 years old, rather then baking).

I got the idea that it would be nice to bake something for her.. she loved sweets and trying new things. So I first began with breakfast, where I baked Almond stuffed Pastry Pretzels. It was in the shape of a pretzel and lightly stuffed with a mixture of sugar, almonds, and almond paste. As they were baking the house filled with a sweet aroma, and she could not wait. She enjoyed it, for the next couple of mornings.

Then I made semi sweet cinnamon buns, with her heath in mind and for christmas I made cookies. Sophie really enjoyed the treats, and she wanted to help so bad sometimes. It was more of a treat to see her face when she started to smell different things baking.

Travels through memory lane..

This is when I was trying to do something different and make cupcakes to look like real people. If you ask me, they look a little to real..lol. The cupcakes were covered in buttercream, the eyes were made from fondant and the hair from buttercream also.

As you can see, all the pictures above are my first trials.. having no experience and just jumping right in.

My Trials and Errors...

I don't know if its only me, but usually when I go to the grocery store (mainly Walmart), I have a list, which I try sticking to.. but I always end up enhancing it. Lets say I decide to buy a box cake, the one where you just add water,oil, and eggs. Its either I might scrap that idea and go completely homemade or buy extra items to add to my box cake. *At this point, I honestly did not know that I could add apricot juice in stead of water, to a lemon cake.. which enhaces the flavor, and I usually toss in some sour cream so it can be extra moist. So by this time, when a cake was suppose to be 20 to 30 minutes, its now 45 to an hour of bake time. I must admit, walmart has a pretty good selection of things in their baking isle and Wilton section. And, the wilton section is another story, I purchased these over sized Jumbo cupcake pans and also bought wiltons fondant. Now as far as the knowledge of fondant goes, the only experience or closes I've gotten to it, was by watching the Food Network. But Im always up for a challenge, and anyhow, the box comes with directions.. lol.

FROM WIKIPEDIA, The ENCYCLOPEDIA
Fondant- is basically sugar and water cooked to a certain point, cooled slightly and stirred or beaten until it is a creamy consistency. Fondant is a cream confection use for fillings, or coating for cakes, pastries, and sweets.

Well, the experience went good, you can add food color gel to the fondant, or you can buy already colored fondant. One thing that I know is that you can't wet it to much, and you have to knead in the color really well, and with a rolling pin, roll it out and cover cakes or cupcakes. Put it like this, its the adult version of Play Doh!

Above, are pictures of my green and blue fondant covered Jumbo cupcakes, the green one is decorated with green fondant leaves.. its suppose to be like grass and the butterfly on top is just doing what butterflies do. The next one, was suppose to represent the sky, and the cookie stars, are the stars in the sky, and the bear is just enjoying the midnight view. As far as the cupcakes, it was just a plain yellow cake, my main agenda was to experiment with the fondant and get accustomed to using it.

2007 Christmas Rush

Above are some pictures of Sugar cookies, which I made for christmas to give away to friends and family. Along with a mini Three layer Pecan and cherry, coconut buttercrem cake.

We have all experienced the Christmas rush and/or the Thanksgiving rush, where we spend hours in the kitchen cooking and baking, along with hours in the grocery stores.. battling over the last package or bottle of gravy, or the last bag of flour.

For 2007, I spent my time baking for three days straight. I began with the cookies, the first cookies I made was half chocolate and half vanilla with orange peel. They were the best things to hit the market. Those were the first items gone, to where I did not even remeber.. muchless have time to take a picture.. so next time! What followed after that was my sugar cookies, throughout this whole process, friends and family could not get one word out of me, I was in the zone.. The kitchen was like a jungle, and only the brave could enter. And as anyone who cooks or bakes knows that, your on a roll.. all your batches are coming out good and evenly brown, but from the time you attempt to get started on another project, there goes that bad batch.. where the cookies are over cooked.. but the show must go on. So, I had a few stumbbles, but who doesn't? As, my cookie escapade came to an end, then I got started, with my mini cakes, that was easy and only took one day to assemble and ice. I really enjoy baking, I never once felt tired or stressed, its more like baking is something that relaxes me and allows me to get creative.

Cookies Cookies Cookies!

Who doesn't love cookies? If there is someone out there that does not like cookies, then we all need to try to convert them. All and any cookie is a great cookie. Theres many different types of cookies, and/or styles of cookies.

Im some parts of the world, Biscuits are what we know them as, Cookies. Cookies basically were born from the method of taking little amounts of cake batter and dropping it onto baking pans to test the temperature of the oven. Cookies were catergorized by method, such as Drop cookies.. which is just spoonfuls of dough dropped onto a baking sheet. Cut out or Molded cookies, was from the use of a cookie cutter or shaping the dough to desired style before baking. Pressed cookies, are from the process of pressing the cookie dough through a press machine or pastry bag to form creative designs. And, there are many more methods to behold in the process of making cookies. Biscuits were small flat cakes, baked twice to keep them fresh and crisp.

FROM WIKIPEDIA, The ENCYCLOPEDIA
Cookie- is a small, flat baked dessert. In most English speaking countries outside of North America, the common word is Biscuit.

What happens to most of us when we attempt to make cookies? Well first of all, you have a good cookie when it has an even golden color on both sides, and equal thick or thinness. When you have a bad cookie, it is either uneven in thick or thinness, it spreads to far out, uncooked and/or sticking to the tray, or over cooked.. to dark and hard. Many factors comes into play when you have a bad cookie.. usually it is either you did not allow enough room for it to spread, there might be to much sugar in the dough, or you did not mix the dough properly.

I've had cookies, that just wont rise, their as flat as a board or to hard because I may have measured the sugar wrong. But for now, my speciality is Sugar cookies, Jam Drops, Chocolate chip cookies, and Biscotti. Sugar cookies are simple.. once you find that perfect recipe, its all good from there.. you can use the recipe to make cut out cookies, drop, or pressed. If you decided to do Cut-out cookies, then after they bake, you can then decorate them for any occasion. My definition of sugar cookies, is that they are firm on the outside and soft in the inside. You have the hardness to withstand frosting, icing, and decorating.. but the softness of a really wonderful cookie.

Below are pictures of, Sugar Cookies decorated with royal icing and painted with food coloring. Not only a baker but as an artist, I wanted to create a scene on the cookies, totally different to what the cookie actually looks like.

Here we have pictures of Jam Drops: strawberry, raspberry, apricot, and orange marmalade, covered with chopped almonds.



As you can see, I am a real cookie fan..lol. These Jam Drops, which are alittle different then the normal drops people might be use to, were covered with chopped almonds and made a little more thicker. Any jam is fine, whatever is your favorite brand and flavor.. go right ahead and get started. I used Smuckers for all the different flavors, and an added bonus would be to sprinkle some royal icing over them..hmm so good!

Next are pictures of homemade Biscotti, Milk & Dark Chocolate Almond Biscotti.

I never knew what biscotti was until I tried some from my mom, and I must admit, the store bought ones were actually good. There was alot of chocolate and almonds, and it was hard but good! Its almost like eating sweet bread with lots of chocolate and almonds. So, as an aspiring baker, I decided to make my own. The pictures, is a result of my first try.. in which I was not sure how they were suppose to come out or taste. Im not just saying this, but they were a hit.. even though I do need some more practice. Biscotti's usually go with tea or coffee, and can be made into whatever your heart desires. If you are into health foods, or would like a snack with less sugar, this is for you. There are many ingredients you can add and infuse, candy, chocolate, nuts, savory, healthly..anything.

The Beginning!

We express ourselves through cooking, the types of food we eat, writing, laughing, crying and so on. Through cooking and food, whether conciously or unconciously..we express our mood, culture and/or experience.

Below we have a homemade four layered Vanilla and Chocolate Cake, with chocolate buttercream filling, Vanilla Buttercream Icing and Unsweetened Dark chocolate swirled over the top. This was my first attempt to produce a professional looking cake, which ended up becoming a four layer cake. As you can see the layers are uneven, but it tasted great. Cooking and Baking is a passion of mines, and everyday I experiment with different ingredients.

To produce a cake simular to this, experience is not needed.. 1.the best way is to buy the same, one or two different types of cake mix, and follow the directions. 2.After following the directions, divide the batter between four 8 or 9 inch pans, two large size cake pans (which can be cut into halves), or one small single pan (to get a feel for it, first) and bake. 3.To get a flush fit, when cakes have cool and are now ready to stack on one another, simply cut off any round tops of the cakes.. so the surface of the cake is flat. 4.And if the sides seem to need alittle trim, go ahead and trim the sides of the cake, when stacked. 5.Next would be either two or three store bought icings or homemade buttercream.