word of wisdom? what? what was that? smc cooks with the pioneer woman(again) rib eye steaks with whiskey(gasp!)cream sauce

as i mentioned in my cheesecake post, i had friends over for dinner last night and this is the recipe i made for the main course. i also made roasted garlic mashed red potatoes and a spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. train wreck cheesecake for dessert and various biscotti for them to take home. they are both big coffee drinkers and love my biscotti.
i have never minded recipes made with alcohol. i particularly love the jack daniels barbecue menu items at TGIF and always operated under the assumption that the alcohol burns out leaving only a complexity of flavor and richness behind. apparently that is not the case. yes, some of the alcohol does burn off, but not all of it, so....technically i am breaking the word of wisdom by eating this recipe. IT WAS WORTH IT. i kid. a little bit. i guess this is one of my justifications. dont we all have them? some drink "DE"caffeinated coffee and call it good or say that green tea is really a herbal tea. cooking with whiskey, and other spirits, on occasion, is mine. just like dr phil, i would never ask you to substitute my judgment for your own, but if you are liberal with the w.o.w, i recommend you try this amazing recipe.

pioneer woman's rib eye steaks with whiskey(she doesnt gasp)cream sauce. if you need to see pictures(it really does help)click here.

* 5 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons diced onion
* 1/4 cup whiskey
* 1/4 cup beef stock or broth
* Dash of salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup light cream
* 2 rib-eye steaks


1. Begin by melting 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Add the onion and cook until brown, about 4 minutes.


2. When the onion is brown, turn off the burner temporarily so you won't ignite your kitchen or yourself.



3. Pour in the whiskey.


4. As soon as the whiskey evaporates, turn the burner on medium and pour in the beef stock or broth.



5. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.
(taste the sauce before you add salt. the broth/stock i used was really salty andi did not need to add any salt.)

6. Now, whisk in another tablespoon of butter.


7. Allow the mixture to bubble for 30 seconds, then reduce the heat to low.


8. Over low heat pour in the cream.


9. Whisk, adding more cream if the mixture looks too brothy.

10. Allow to simmer on very low heat while you prepare the steaks. Stir occasionally

11. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Generously salt and pepper the steak on both sides, then add it to the hot skillet.

12. For medium rare, cook for 2 minutes on each side for a thin steak, or 3 to 4 minutes on each side for a thick steak. Place the steak on a plate and keep warm. Repeat with the other steak.

(Feel free to cook both steaks at once in the same skillet, if you prefer.)

13. Spoon the sauce over the steak ... and don't skimp! You want to taste the deliciousness.




* from:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

smc cooks make ahead muffin melts

make ahead muffin melts
adapted from the pioneer woman(who STOLE it from her mother!)

Ingredients

* 12 whole Hard-boiled Eggs, Peeled And Chopped
* 2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
* 1 cup (real) Mayonnaise
* 12 slices Bacon, Fried And Crumbled
* 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon Mustard
* ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
* 3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
* 6 whole English Muffins Split

Preparation Instructions

Combine eggs with all other ingredients. Fold together gently. Cover and store in the fridge overnight.

Spread on English muffin halves, then broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly. (Don’t set them too close to the heating element.)

i halved this recipe and did not have enough bacon, so i substituted sausage and it was GOOD. my taste testers loved it. very easy and just about everything in this recipe are things we normally have around. no exotic or expensive ingredients. i ALWAYS like that.

smc cooks with the pioneer woman again! cinnamon toast-who would have thunk it?

i am going to be posting this at 11th heavens homemaking haven for homemaker monday-check it out for tons of cool ideas.

i did not grow up on cinnamon toast. not sure why my mother never made it-maybe i should ask her why she deprived her oldest and arguably her best child of this yummy goodness?
i was an adult the first time i ever made it(the absolute WRONG way according to the pioneer woman. toast, butter, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix on after)for myself. i liked it well enough,but would only eat it occasionally, sometimes going years without even thinking about it.
after the pioneer posted her recipe i doubt i will ever go years without thinking about cinnamon toast again. it is DELICIOUS. and simple. you just have to modify the technique a little. the recipe calls for a bunch of bread, but it easy to figure out how to cut it down just to make a couple of slices. i can only eat two, but i never make less than 4, because either one of my taste testers or my 4 year old niece(who can eat 4 herself)will want some. I have used homemade white bread and store bought whole wheat and both were fantastic. also-i have an electric stove and have found that the low broil setting is better than the high for this recipe, but ovens vary, so their might be some trial and error. i didnt use the nutmeg, but i think it would be good and i will try it next time.
Cinnamon Toast
adapted from the pioneer woman

Ingredients

* 16 slices Bread (whole Wheat Is Great!)
* 2 sticks Salted Butter, Softened
* 1 cup Sugar (more To Taste)
* 3 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract (more To Taste)
* ⅛ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Smush softened butter with a fork. Dump in sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, if using. Stir to completely combine.

Spread on slices of bread, completely covering the surface all the way to the edges.

Place toast on a cookie sheet. Place cookies sheet into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until golden brown and bubbling. Watch so it won’t burn!

Remove from oven and cut slices into halves diagonally.

yummy, yummy, and YUMMY!

i dont love making frosting,but i HATE the fake, gross and canned grocery store stuff, so i make it even though i think its a pain. its not that its difficult, but just....annoying. i know. weird, but thats my story and i am sticking to it. this recipe TOTALLY took the annoying aspect out of making yummy frosting. this is so easy, but the pay off is big.

THATS THE BEST FROSTING I HAVE EVER HAD
adapted from Tasty Kitchen by missydew

1 cup Milk
5 Tablespoons Flour
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)


Bake your favorite chocolate cake and let it cool. cupcakes LOVE this frosting. i know because i have made 3 batches!

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.
note: i have found its better to start with softened butter. you can make it work with cold butter, but its more difficult.

Grab a spoon and taste this wonderful goodness. If there is any left after your taste test, spread it on a cooled chocolate cake. Cut yourself a piece and put it on a pretty plate. Grab a fork and prepare to experience the most divine pairing you can imagine. This frosting on chocolate cake is to die for. Sure, the recipe sounds strange — it has flour in it — but it’s sublime. Try it, you’ll see. You’ll love it so much you won’t go back.

smc cooks- LEMONS!

my sister from az brought me a ton of lemons the other day. i zested and juiced them all and so far i have made 2 delicious lemon recipes. the first is from the tasty kitchen .


fresh lemonade.

adapted from tasty kitchen
by thatssoyummy


6 whole Lemons
1 cup Granulated Sugar
6 cups Cold Water

Juice the lemons. This should give you 1 cup of lemon juice. Remember you can get the most juice by firmly rolling the lemons between your hand and the counter.

In a gallon pitcher, combine 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, and 6 cups cold water. Stir, and adjust water to taste-i added a little more sugar, i am sweet like that.

Chill and serve over ice.
i love this stuff-very easy. so easy i have made it three times this weekend.

next....lemon bars. possibly my favorite lemon treat.
lemon bars
adapted from the better homes and gardens new cook book.

1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tbs flour
2tsp lemon zest
3 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar(optional)
beat butter on med-high for 30 seconds
add 1/4 c sugar, then 1 c flour(will be crumbly)
press into ungreased 8x8 pan. bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
for the filling, combine eggs, 3/4 c sugar, 2 tbs flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and baking powder. beat 2 minutes.
pour filling over baked layer. bake 20 min. once cool, sift powdered sugar over top if desired.
delicious and so very easy. you can whip these up really fast and they seem to really impress people. thats what i call working smart, not hard.

no, i dont smell like a pickle

and its not the real reason for my dating hiatus. i have been thinking a lot about the fact that i started this blog to chronicle the embarrassing and hilarious stories of a 40 something, "good", mormon girl dating and trying to find her eternal companion, but i havent delivered too much in that area lately. i am working on a few posts and i am even considering getting back "out there", but for now...

GET THIS! i use apple cider vinegar instead of traditional conditioner and its AMAZING. amazing because it works and because its super cheap and gives me more shine and volume than just about any conditioner i have paid twenty bucks or more for at the salon.
both the pioneer woman and the girls at little house in the suburbs
talk about it on their blogs. i was wary, but my long, super fine, no volume hair was in desperate need of help. i was getting ready to pull a britney spears and just shave it off. i was that frustrated. i grabbed the vinegar and headed for the shower.
i used my normal shampoo like the pioneer woman does. little house in the suburbs recommends that you wash your hair with ivory soap, but i am not ready to go that granola yet. after i washed and rinsed my hair, i poured a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar over my head, taking care not to get it in my eyes or mouth. vinegar is a really strong smell and i was freaking out a little thinking i would be smelling like a pickle, but i soldiered on, gave my hair a final rinse of warm water, and got out of the shower.
i used my normal styling products and blew my hair dry and i was a little surprised, but thrilled with the results. the first thing was that i DIDNT smell like vinegar at all, not even the faintest of residual scents. next, my hair styled so easy, was shiny, and had more volume than i have seen in a long time.
i still have some conditioner to use up, so i do the vinegar rinse about every third wash or so and the benefits have not diminished at all.
i read a few comments from the other blogs and some women said that it helped with their thick, coarse hair, so you dont have to have baby fine hair like mine to benefit. try it and let me know how it worked for you.

smc still cooking with the pioneer woman

i made the pw's potato skins yesterday. DELICIOUS!! i have never made potato skins of any kind, but i think most recipes call for them to be fried. not pioneer womans! there is oil in the recipe, but nothing compared to completely submerging the potato in a vat of boiling oil.
the recipe is not listed on her blog, so i wont list it here(until i figure out if i am allowed to do so), but i can tell you its really easy, a little time consuming(an hour + for baking the potatoes), and doesnt require any fancy or cost prohibitive ingredients.
pioneer womans recipe is classic. cheese, bacon, sour cream, and chopped green onions. the flavors meld just right and i was surprised how delicious such simplicity could be.
if you have the book, please try these-they are so worth it!

smc cooks! the cooking continues with the pioneer woman

today i made iny's prune cake with buttermilk icing and all i can say is YUM! this is one of the recipes that is actually in the pioneer woman's archives, so you can check it out here. it is very easy to make and PLEASE dont let the fact there are prunes in it gross you out or make you run away. this is basically a spice cake with a delicious icing. i think calling it "buttermilk icing" is kind of misleading. sure, there IS buttermilk in it, but it translates into a caramel/butterscotch type sauce that seeps in to add to the delicious moistness of the cake and leaves a think layer sitting on top. seriously. yummy. the pioneer woman encourages you to lick the spoon and i was obedient and was instantly blessed. she also encourages you to try the cake warm(i did),but promises that it gets better with time. i will let you know in a day or two. if it lasts that long.
ps-as i was writing this post the pickiest of my taste testers walked in and asked "whats this?" i chose not to divulge the whole truth-he would definitely be turned off by the prunes-and simply called it "spice cake with caramel icing". his eyes rolled heavenward when he put the first bite in his mouth.
pps- there are a lot of desserts in the pioneer womans book, but i will be moving on to her other recipes. most of them are meant to feed a crowd, so i need to line up dates or family or random strangers off the street to cook for.

smc and the pioneer woman

i made my first recipe from "the pioneer woman cooks"- "flat apple pie". at first i was going to list the recipe because pw lists all her recipes on her blog- or so i thought. when i checked her blog, flat apple pie was not in her archives. not sure about trademark and copyright laws when it comes to a format like this, so i will just tell you about what happened.
not sure why i started with this one. i have always had problems with pie crust. i failed the pie crust unit in my high school home ec class. mine was never tender and flaky and always resembled cardboard. the few attempts since then have been equally dismal. my mother is a star pie maker, so i decided that it just wasnt one of my talents and focused on other areas in the kitchen. i am great with cakes and cookies and even some candy, but when i saw this recipe as looked through pw's book i decided i wanted to conquer the pie crust.
this recipe is easy and the results were delicious. my moms apple pie is generously laced with cinnamon, but pw's has none. just granulated sugar, brown sugar, and a little lemon. i didnt miss the cinnamon at all!
the pie crust ended up being perfect, but where i failed(and will easily correct next time)was with the "flat" part. instead of using a pie pan, you simply(it wasnt simple for me)put the rolled out crust on a cookie sheet, pile the apples in the middle and fold the edges up around, making a rustic looking tart-like pie. you see the apples peeking out from the middle where the crust doesnt meet. i didnt roll the dough out thin enough and the crust was too thick on top. it tasted good, but the apples were over powered by the crust. i am going to make it again and aim for flat apple pie perfection.

i am so going to be COOKING!

i just got the pioneer woman cooks and LET ME TELL YOU, i am going to be cooking up a storm. i am not even half way through browsing the book and there are at least six recipes i am going to try. since i am on a dating hiatus, i am seeing that cooking will be the replacement activity. that and upping my workouts to off set all the taste testing.

smc cooks for Christmas

i have 2 sets of friends that i usually dont get a chance to get together with until after Christmas. this works out well for me because it gives me more time to finish putting together gifts. gives me something to do on a lazy Christmas day when i dont feel like picking up all the tattered gift wrap and crushed bows left about the living room.amongst these friends, we usually give little token gifts, but the thing we most look forward to is the exchange of the goodies. we all have our specialties, but besides my loved-by-all biscotti, i made a few new things that everyone went crazy over. i made some old fashioned chocolate syrup by alton brown and put it in some cool looking vintage jars. i had stopped making chocolate truffles years ago, but when i saw this interesting recipe by the pioneer woman, i just had to try it and i am so glad i did. everyone loved them! the dark and milk chocolates are balanced just right and the few grains of sea salt add an amazing layer of flavor.
i did a few more things, but my favorite was that i "brewed" my own vanilla. got a couple of vanilla beans and a jug of vodka and i was good to go. everyone has been impressed with their little bottles of the amber liquid with a vanilla bean soaking inside. kind of fun shopping for vodka in a small, mostly lds town.

smc cooks

today i made cranberry chutney to break away from the normal cranberry relish that i make every year. not everyone in my family will eat cranberries(they actually like the canned crap)and even those who do like them, just eat a little bit. there are always a ton of leftovers, but i think this year might be a little different with the recipe. taste testers reviews have been favorable so far.
i also made stuffing(or dressing, depending on your raising)from a new recipe posted by the pioneer woman. she has the best recipes and this one is no different. everyone has been picking at it and loving it. i hope there is some left by time we sit down to the table. stuffing is so simple and be so good, but it can turn into a disgusting mess that no one will touch if you arent careful.
it was a delicious meal and a good time spent with family. lots of stuff to be thankful for.