Baking

I've been doing some baking for a trivia event tonight.
And of course at the last minute I changed my mind about what I'll be taking.
This is a Chocolate Walnut Tart:
I made two of them because I had the ingredients (actually I bought too many walnuts, so I figured why not), it was a good choice because for some reason they turned out completely different. The first one (below) never thickened up. The filling is brown sugar, dark corn syrup, eggs, butter and vanilla mixed together and poured over the walnuts and chocolate chips in the pie crust. The second one (above), the nuts and chips kinda rose to the top and it's quite a bit thicker underneath, kinda like the consistency of pecan pie. Everyone I've talked to has no idea what happened, I prepared them the same, cooked them for the same amount of time, and they're still very different. I think the runny one would be good over ice cream or pound cake, but I really have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

Next, I made lemon cake with a lemon glaze. I made this for my birthday cake last year and it was soo good. It's a white cake mix with lemon pudding mix and lemon lime soda. It looks great, but I decided not to take it to the trivia night.

And last but not least is the double cheese macaroni and cheese. I made it for dinner last night, but after tasting it, I decided it was waay too rich for me, and I've decided to warm it up in the oven and take it tonight. It's got cottage cheese and cheddar cheese. The sauce on it almost tastes like an alfredo sauce, and I'm not that big of a fan of it. Though it does taste great.

I have to say cooking/baking is something my ex got me started on that I'm so glad he did. I used to only make those box meals, and never bake, but he got me pans, mixing bowls and I got a hand mixer from my parents for Christmas, and most everything I've made so far has turned out good (even when I messed it up, I've gotten pretty good reviews).

my weekend

This weekend was Kevin and I's 3 year dating anniversary. We set the date for May 1st, because neither of us could remember exactly when we actually started dating. We didn't get to see each other on the first because I had to work that afternoon and he had to work that night.
Sunday morning I wake up to him coming in my door with bags full of things. In these bags were:
A 5 quart Dutch oven

A 12" Frying pan

A 2 quart saucepan and

A 3 quart saucepan.

I've been wanting some better cookware for awhile now, and Kevin will probably say I don't have any reason not to cook now.

We then went to Ankeny and ate lunch at a Chinese buffet. After that we stopped at Walmart where I picked up:

Some wooden spoons and

a spoon rest.

We then headed south again, stopping to look at some car dealerships on our wat to Des Moines where we went to Bass Pro Shop. I've been wanting to go to it ever since it opened, and I was a little annoyed when he went with his friend on Labor Day. That was pretty cool to go into and look around, I would have liked to stay longer, but he did promise a friend he'd help with some truck maintenance.

After we got back, he dropped me off and went to help his friend.

I had planned on cooking him supper for my present to him, and those pots really came in handy.

I cooked Lemon Dill Bluegill (that's what I had in the freezer) and loaded mashed potatoes. I unfortunately forgot about the prep time, so I started at 5:30, thinking I'd have everything ready to eat by 7. It didn't really happen that way.

I started peeling potatoes, and realized I didn't have a potato peeler, so I had to borrow one from my parents. I used my new dutch oven to cook them, which took a bit longer than I expected. But, while waiting for them to cook, I did get the rest of the ingredients for the potatoes and the fish ready. After cooking the potatoes, I realized I was supposed to mash them up in an electric mixer, which I also didn't have, so I mixed them in a bowl with a fork, to squish them. Then they were supposed to bake for 30 minutes.

While they were baking I got started on the fish, all that turned out OK, and I got to use my new fry pan for it. I should have taken a picture, it was pretty cool looking with the water in it, and the lemons floating on top and then the bluegill on top of that.

But, it all turned out ok, and it was a really nice anniversary.

Here are the recipes if anyone wants to try them out.

Taken from Taste of Home's Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2006, Loaded Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used about 8 potatoes)

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

3 TB butter

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheddar cheese blend, divided

1/2 lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 green onions sliced

1. Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until tender. Drain and place in a mixing bowl. Add sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 cups cheese, bacon and onions.

2. Transfer to a greased 3-qt baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Yield: 14 servings

Taken from Taste of Home magazine February/March 2001 Lemon Dill Walleye

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 TB butter or stick margarine

4 cups water

1 TB snipped fresh dill OR 1 tp dill weed

3/4 cup fat-free milk

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1/8 tp pepper

2 lbs walleye, cod, halibut or orange roughy fillets (I used quite a bit of bluegill)

In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add water and dill; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes. Add milk, stir in lemons and pepper. Top with fillets. Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Transfer fish to a serving platter and keep warm. Strain cooking liquid, reserving lemons, onions and dill, serve with fish.

Everything's gonna be alright

I bought bananas a couple weeks ago to take with me to the bookstore for lunch, they went brown, so I decided to make banana bread with them. Bad idea.
I got a recipe from my mother and had to go to the grocery store for: eggs, baking powder, baking soda, lemon juice, milk, and pam. I accidentally bought 2 boxes of baking powder instead of one each of baking powder and baking soda. I didn't notice this until I had everything in the oven and was putting away my ingredients. How is it I always seem to mess stuff up?
Anyhow, my bread was already in the oven in little bread pans on top of a cookie sheet. Good thing they're on a cookie sheet because I just checked them halfway through their cooking time, they're overflowing onto the cookie sheet. I honestly don't know what baking powder and soda do, so I don't know how royally I've screwed up the bread, we'll see. I'm figuring I filled the pans too full, but I only had 4 pans and I didn't want to go find something else to put the rest in, so I knew about that, I guess I didn't know how much they would rise. I also added almonds instead of walnuts, just to try something out. Kevin's always telling me to try stuff out, we'll see how this is.
I kinda hope I didn't screw things up too bad, because banana bread sounds really good.

I was so proud of myself as I was mixing the stuff up. I was thinking I should start my Christmas list and put mixing bowls and cookie sheets on it.