Project 52 Crossword Puzzle

Hannah and I had the car on Thursday and since it was officially my turn to plan date night, she and I hit the store. We went to Target which has those great dollar bins right when you enter the store. I found a cross word puzzle and some water balloons. My thoughts were to make some chocolate bowls with the water balloons and do a crossword while we waited for them to harden. Well, I got the idea of orange truffles while I was sitting around that afternoon and went to see if we had any of the stuff that would make it and I kind of had it. So, I made up some truffles and then we covered them with chocolate that night and they were so tasty. We made it through one crossword puzzle and cheated very little :-D It was fun working on it together and some of the clues and words were a little ludicrous. All in all not a bad date for a buck and some pantry raiding.

In case you are interested in the dessert, I took the McCormick Eggnog Truffle recipe and modified it by omitting the nutmeg and rum extract and adding orange extract. I then covered them with semisweet chocolate chips melted with shortening (1cup/1tablespoon ratio). I think we might make them again at Christmas time as gifts.

Stories from the Kitchen: Taste and See

I celebrated my birthday last weekend. It was wonderful and the leftovers left me with a question or two. Find out what they are and how I'm currently answering them in this week's podcast. Stories from the Kitchen Season 2, Episode 2: Taste and See Notes from the episode: Taste and See by Margaret Feinberg Dad’s New York Cheesecake (from the back of a Philidelphia Cream Cheese package) 1 ⅞ cups graham cracker crumbs ¼ to ½ cup butter, melted 1 cup sugar, divided 2 lbs cream cheese (4 packs) 2 large eggs (lightly beaten) 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp cornstarch 1 cup sour cream Preheat oven to 450F Mix well graham crackers, 2 tbsp sugar, and enough butter that the mixture holds together. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. Press mixture onto bottom and sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Chill in the freezer while preparing the filling. Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth and light. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch until just blended. S

Tasty Tuesday: Roasted Broccoli

I ran across this recipe on Pinterest the other day that was labeled " The Best Broccoli Of Your Life. " I normally either steam our broccoli in the microwave or saute it with olive oil and red pepper flakes on the stove top. I decided this would be something to try. I did the salt, pepper and olive oil part of the recipe. I didn't have the majority of the other ingredients. In fact, all I had was a little bit of Parmesan It was wonderful. Not the best broccoli of my life, but honestly, it was pretty close. And if I had the lemon juice and all that jazz, it may very well be the best. What have you been eating lately?

KAF No-Fuss Focaccia

I really like making bread. It's fun to get your hands dirty, but I understand that yeast is a scary thing for people who don't have experience with it. Somehow, I started using it when I was young and too immature to understand the fear that comes along with wasting time, money and energy. I had time and energy in abundance. My first real forte into baking was in the 7 th grade. I must have cooked before then because I choose to see which flour rose the highest using a cinnamon roll recipe. I made a lot of cinnamon rolls that year and when I turned in my report, there were questions asked of me that I had no idea what she meant. Questions about the weather and the heat of the oven. Things that I didn't know could make a difference in the baking of bread. Lots has happened since that first memorable baking. Today, I invited a friend over to make bread. I was kind of concerned about the strength of the yeast, because we bought a huge stash of it last year someti

Tina The Storyteller

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