Betsy's Caramel Corn (the soft kind)

My friend, Betsy, just gave me this recipe.  It's the soft kind of caramel popcorn.  It is gooey, and oh so good!  I brought it to a girls movie night, and the girls raved about it!  Thanks for the recipe Bets!

Betsy's Caramel Corn

1/2 c butter

2 c brown sugar

1 can condensed milk

3/4 c Karo syrup

Combine all and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. stirring consistently, boil 4 min. (you can stir in a tsp of vanilla after heating if you like here also) Pour

over popcorn (probably 2-4 bags) and mix well.

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 6: Challah Bread

I have something to admit.  This is the first time that I have ever made bread all my myself, EVER.  Yep.  I have always had a huge fear of making bread.  It just seemed so time consuming, which it was.  When I first looked at the recipe for Challah bread I felt completely overwhelmed.  I thought to myself "maybe I'll just skip this week".   But I didn't, and I'm glad.

I was really dubious the whole time I was making this bread.  The dough was really dense.  Maybe that is how all bread dough is.  I wouldn't know.  So I let it rise, but it was still so heavy.  Then came time to do these crazy braids.  They really were crazy.  The whole thing was looking so ugly, and I almost quit several times.  Surprisingly, The bread came out of the oven looking and tasting great!  I was shocked!!!

 It did get slightly over cooked.  I blame that on my husband.  I had to go somewhere, and I was left with no choice but to leave the cooking part up to him.  So considering the situation, it turned out just fine.

By the way, Challah bread is a jewish bread.  It's pronounced Halla.  The CH is silent.

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.zollyzoo.com/inthekitchen/2012/02/08/bake-52-week-6-challah/.  Here are my pictures.

See what I mean?  UGLY!

And double ugly 

Not so bad!

I'll take it!

Today I made bread!  That feels good to say!  Maybe I'll do it again someday...just maybe.

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 5: 7 Layer Bars

Hi everyone!  Today I am hosting for Bake 52!  Before I get to the actual recipe, I want to give a little introduction about myself for my new Bake 52 friends.  My name is Jesse.  6 months ago I moved to Boston where my husband is attending Harvard Business School.  I've been thrown into a completely new lifestyle here in Boston.  I'm still trying to get used to the hussle and bussle of life.  I've been trying new things every day.  I even tried cooking a live lobster, though I don't recommend it. Here's the link if your're interested. I also have a one year old son named Woodson.  I am originally from South Dakota.  That is where I met Amanda (the Amanda who is in charge of Bake 52).  She was actually my youth leader at church like 9 or 10 years ago.  I thought she was super cool (and still do).  Now i'm all grown up (well sorta, i'm 25) and I'm happy to say that we kept in touch and we're still friends.  She even drove like 3 hours to come to my wedding reception!  Little did I know that we would have so much in common today!  Anyways, I love to cook and hate to clean.  My kitchen is messy about 60 % of the time.  But i'm a germaphobe, so it's not bacteria messy.  Just regular messy, cluttered.  I also love to play games.

Ok, it's recipe time.  The actual recipe is near the end of this post.

I decided to choose the 7 Layer Bars and here's why.  My Mom makes the best 7 layer bars EVER.  However, she always makes it up in her head so it's not written down anywhere.  I have tried making them twice, and failed both times.  It was time for me to find a 7 layer recipe of my own.  I've gotta say, this recipe was not a fail, and not a disappointment!  It's pretty similar to hers, except that there are no rice krispies or heath bits in my Moms recipe.  I thought both were great additions.  My Mom makes her bars with butterscotch chips.  I knew that I would miss those, so I went ahead and added them to this recipe.  It's totally worth it.  They are so yummy in these bars and i'm not even a butterscotch fan.  Just trust me.

I was a little worried after reading Rachel Howard's (it's TroyandRachelHoward on Facebook) post on the Bake 52 FB page last week.  She said that they were too gooey.  I decided to stick to the recipe and put in the normal amount.  I'm glad I did.  They were perfect for me.  I'm not really sure what she was talking about, because they were the same consistency as our Mom's recipe.  Oh yeah, did I mention that Rachel is my sister?!?  So I can say that cuz she's my sis.  :) She has a really cute blog called familyeverafter.blogspot.com.  Check it out!

So all in all, I was really pleased with the outcome of this dessert.  These bars are really decadent, but so good.  I made them for my husband's birthday on Monday.  He said that they were better than any birthday cake he's ever had!

And now, for the recipe!  I have two versions of the recipe.  First is the whole recipe written out with no pictures.  Underneath that is the  recipe directions with my pictures incorporated.  Also, any notes that come from me are NOT italicized, and are in bold.  You'll notice in the pictures that I halved the recipe.  Hope you like it!

7 Layer Bars

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients

1 cup Chocolate covered toffee bits (heath brand)

12 whole graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped fine  I used milk chocolate chips

1 cup Rice Krispies

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips (I did a little less pecans and semisweet chocolate chips because I added butterscotch chips)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

2 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk 

I used the entire amount of sweetened condensed milk, minus a few tablespoons because I did not scrape the can.

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with a foil sling and grease the foil.

2.  Process the toffee bits to a fine powder in a food processor, about 10 seconds.  Add the graham cracker pieces and continue to process the mixture to fine crumbs, about 30 seconds.  Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs and pulse to incorporate.  Sprinkle the crumbs into the prepared pan and press into an even layer with the bottom of the measuring cup. Bake the crust until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

3.  Remove the crust from the oven, sprinkle with the milk chocolate, and let sit until the chocolate is softened but not melted, about 5 minutes.  Smooth the softened chocolate into an even layer.  

4.  Layer the Rice Krispies, pecans, chocolate chips, then coconut into the pan, in that order, pressing on each layer to adhere.  Whisk the condensed milk and vanilla together and pour this mixture evenly over the top.  Bake the bars until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

5.  Let the bars cook completely in the pan, set on a wire rack, about 2 hours.  Remove the bars from the pan using the foil, cut into squares, and serve.

Directions with pictures:

1. Line a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with a foil sling and grease the foil.

 2.  Process the toffee bits to a fine powder in a food processor, about 10 seconds.

  Add the graham cracker pieces and continue to process the mixture to fine crumbs, about 30 seconds.

  Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs and pulse to incorporate.

  Sprinkle the crumbs into the prepared pan and press into an even layer with the bottom of the measuring cup.

Bake the crust until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

 3.  Remove the crust from the oven, sprinkle with the milk chocolate, and let sit until the chocolate is softened but not melted, about 5 minutes.  Smooth the softened chocolate into an even layer.  

Sorry, I got carried away and forgot to take a picture of this step

     4. Layer the Rice Krispies, pecans, chocolate chips, then coconut into the pan, in that order, pressing on each layer to                                  adhere.

 Whisk the condensed milk and vanilla together and pour this mixture evenly over the top. 

Bake the bars until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

5.  Let the bars cook completely in the pan, set on a wire rack, about 2 hours.  

  Remove the bars from the pan using the foil, cut into squares, and serve.

xoxo

j

Mac and Cheese!

I have gotten pretty lazy about blogging anything except for the baking club stuff.  I admit, I don't foresee me getting any better.  Here's to trying!  I made some mac and cheese that I am pretty excited to share.  It's straight from the blog, Annie's Eats.  Here's a link to the recipe:   http://annies-eats.com/2011/03/24/classic-mac-and-cheese/.  I didn't change a thing about it.  Well, I guess I did halve the recipe, but that was it.  It was probably the best mac and cheese I've ever had.  Make it.

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 4: Light New York Cheese Cake

Well, I skipped week 3 because my son was sick and it consumed most of my time, but I'm back for week 4!  This week's challenge was Light New York Cheese Cake, or another words, healthy cheesecake (if there is such thing).  Really, this is a unique recipe for a cheesecake because there is cottage cheese and greek yogurt in it!  Pretty impressive. I had never made cheese cake before, but I was surprised with how easy it was!  However, maybe it was so easy because I decided to use a store bought Oreo cookie crust.  I also did a marbled version of the cheesecake.  It was great!  Here's the recipe:  otherthingsnice.blogspot.com.   The girl hosting also added some helpful tips that I would definitely recommend doing.

Next week I'm hosting!  We'll be trying 7 layer bars.  Can't wait!

xoxo

Bake 52 Week 2: Bran Muffins

Our challenge for this week was Bran Muffins.  I was excited to make these, because I love a good bran muffin.  However, I was not thrilled with this recipe.  I have had better.  But if you want to try them out anyways, here's the link to the recipe: sugarcoatedsaga.blogspot.com.  


The recipe calls for raisins.  I really don't like raisins baked into things, so I made half of the batter with craisins, and the other half with dried blueberries.  The dried blueberries were splendid.  


All in all, these muffins were just ok.  I would give them a 5 out of 10.  However, with a lot of butter added on top I would give them a 6 out of 10.

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 1: Quiche

It's a new year, and I have a new project!  I am a participant if a new online cooking group.  We all have the same cookbook, and every week one person hosts.  That means that the host gets to pick a recipe.  She also posts the recipe for everyone online.  This week the host is names Clare.  Her link is tylerandclare.blogspot.com and that is where you can find the recipe to the quiche that we have all made.

My sister, Rachel, and I are both home for the holidays in South Dakota so we were able to make it together.  It was awesome because she did the hard work (aka making the crust).  I don't do crust.  I just made the basic quiche recipe, and then added some green onions and bacon.  So here's a pic of our final product.

This is a great beginners recipe, because it goes in to detail about how to make it fool proof.  I would say that it's a keeper.  No complaints.

xoxo

j