Butter Cookies!!

So it has been quite a while since I've posted anything but Sydney was sad that I hadn't posted anything in a while. :/ Sorry.

A month ago I was like craving some butter cookies and actually found a pretty good recipe. I found it on http://allrecipes.com/, but I followed another person's review. (Thanks to Kathleen.) I hope you all enjoy these!! I am pretty much addicted.


Ingredients:
1 cup butter*, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (powedered sugar)

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)**.

In a large bowl, use an electric or stand up mixer to cream the butter, about 5 minutes.

Add confectioner's sugar and beat another 5 minutes.

Then add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beat for 5 minutes after every addition.

On the last addition beat mix for 10 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Spoon (or pipe) onto parchment lined cookie sheets, spacing cookies 1-2 inches apart***.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned.

Remove from oven, and let cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer cookies on to wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container, separating each layer with waxed paper.

*DO NOT use margarine. DO NOT use microwave to soften butter.

**Cooking temperature and time depends on your own climate and how your oven works wherever you are.

***You can dip the cookies into big sugar crystals before placing on the baking sheet. You should be able to find these at a grocery store or any craft store that has cake decorating supplies.

==Andersen Girlie Tips==

I used unsalted butter, but I don’t know if there is a difference between using salted or unsalted butter.

If you want, you can turn the cookies into spiced butter cookies like pumpkin butter cookies or cinnamon butter cookies. Do this AFTER you have combined everything. Add 1/2tsp at a time of either or both spices and taste a little piece to make sure the spice is not too strong after every addition.

The original recipe called for green and red maraschino cherries for decoration. For this you would quarter each cherry and add them to the middle of the cookie before baking.

Mummy Dogs

Twist it on up! Hot Dogs can get SO boring. I saw this on Pinterest and had to try it. It is just like Pigs in a Blanket but much more fun. It Does take a little more effort but the outcome is so fun.

Ingredients:
Flaky Layered Biscuits (store-bought/canned biscuits)
Hot Dogs

Step One: you want to cut the biscuit so that its about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick rope so you can ...
Step Two: ...wrap it around the hot dog.

When you start wrapping the hot dog, make the rope so that the beginning of the rope is tucked under so it doesn't unravel. When you are at the end of the rope just pinch it to the rope next to it.

  

 

 

Cooking Pasta

So, a while back I was helping cook pasta for a church gathering and the ladies I was helping said that adding 1Tbsp of oil to boiling water before you add the uncooked pasta helps keep it from sticking to the pot. I've tried this several times and it never worked. Every single time I had to stir and re-stir.
Then, I was on Pinterest, I think, and saw that this woman tried a different technique and I'm going to share it with all of you lovely people.

Spray your pot with cooking spray, like you would to bake cookies and what-not, before you add water. Now, for me, while I'm adding water to my pot, I move the water around so that the spray isn't removed from one spot. (Once you do this you will understand what I am talking about.) This works every time. I stir maybe twice. The first, right after I add the pasta/noodles just to move them around and then maybe a second time about half-way through cooking.


Another thing that really bugs is when I'll be watching a cooking show and that episode the cook will be making pasta. After the pasta is cooked, they reserve some of the water because they say it thickens the sauce. I've tried this method several times as well. It NEVER works for me. So that's really your call if you want to try that or not. It could be operator error but I've really only ever seen that done on cooking shows.

Well, I hope you all are having a nice weekend!!

Pork Chops

So, along with the chicken I made the other night, I made pork chops for my mom. She doesn't like chicken. I know, right? How. Dare. You.   So I picked up some pork chops and made them for her.


Ingredients:
Pork Chops
Chef Merito's Carne Asada Seasoning
Parsley Flakes (in the seasoning aisle at the grocery store)
Olive Oil
Cutting Board
A Bowl
Frying Pan
Cooking Spray


First- Lay out the chops on your cutting board.
Second- Sprinkle the asada seasoning over the chops as well as some parsley flakes. Rub the seasoning into the chops as best as you can. Flip over chops and repeat.
Third- Layering in a bowl, drizzle some oil over the chops and spread it around. Let them sit, covered with plastic (with the plastic touching the chops so there is no air between the two) for at least 30 minutes.
Fourth- Place the chops in a hot pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let it cook at least 5 minutes on each side, depending upon how thick the pork chops are.
Fifth- Serve with mashed potatoes or other vegies. YUM.


For the chicken recipe, click here


Any questions, just ask and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

ENJOY!!

Chicken? Yes, Please!!

Chicken. I LOVE chicken. It's SO GOOD!! So, my sister wanted to make her mashed potatoes and I needed to make something to go with them. We had chicken. PERFECT! Except my mom doesn't care for chicken. Sinner. Haha. So, I picked up some pork chops, which she liked, but I'll save that recipe for another post.

Back to the chicken! I was going to grill them, but there was no propane in the tank and I'm too chicken (haha) to try and switch an empty one for a full one. So, I had to pan fry my chicken. Good news is: they turned out almost as good as they would have if I had grilled them.

I kind of did a lot of different stuff, so hopefully you all can keep up.

Ingredients
Chicken breast, preferably boneless, skinless for easier cutting
Chef Merito's Pollo Seasoning (or your preferred chicken seasoning)
Orange Soda (whichever brand you prefer)
Oranges, 2 or 3
Olive Oil (Canola will do just fine)
Pepper
Garlic Powder
2 Large Bowls
1 Small Bowl
1 Large Frying Pan
Cooking Spray

First, I cut up the boneless, skinless chicken breast in half and then cut the biggest part of the breast vertically. Before I cut the chicken into pieces, I cut off any extra fat.
Second, I put the chicken in a large bowl (the size bowl clearly depends on how much chicken you are making) and soaked the chicken in the soda for about 30 minutes.
Third, I mixed about 1/3cup of the pollo seasoning, 2tsp garlic powder and 1Tbsp pepper with the juice from half of an orange in a small bowl. Stir. (This also depends on how much chicken you are making.) I then added about 1-2 Tbsp oil to the mixture and stirred until the mixture was completely combined. I removed the chicken pieces from the soda soak and put them in another large bowl. I added the pollo seasoning mixture to the chicken and made sure it was wide spread over all the chicken and let it marinate in the fridge (covered with plastic wrap, the wrap touching the chicken so there was no air between the plastic and chicken) for at least 30 minutes, if not longer or as long as you want to marinate.
Fourth, I cooked the chicken. Here is where its more tricky. Duh, it's on the stove. Anyway. You want to have the pan hot. Spray the pan (with cooking spray) and place a few pieces of chicken in the pan. Ok, this is where you can either keep the chicken nice and moist or dry and dry. Don't turn the chicken until you can see that 'white edge' where the pan is cooking the chicken through but still pink on the top. This can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on how thick the pieces are. If you don't have a meat thermometer, you will have to cut the middle open slightly to see if the chicken is cooked all the way through. If it's not, and the side its cooking on is blackening, just flip it over or put it in a part of the pan where the flame of the stove isn't hitting the bottom of the pan (usually the edge of the pan is safe).
Fifth, if you are cooking a lot of chicken, turn the oven on to 200dF. Spray cooking spray into a glass pan (i used a 13x9) and set it in the oven. When a piece of chicken is done cooking, just place it in the oven and you should be fine. The juices from the chicken will set up in the bottom of the pan, but it will keep (or should keep) the chicken moist. If you want, you can add a half orange, cut side facing up, in the pan.



==Andersen Girlie's Tips==

-If you are going to grill or bake this chicken, you don't have to cut it up. They just cook more quickly in smaller pieces. Times will be completely different. If you want the times, just ask and I'll comment the answers back to you.
-I used Shasta's Orange Cream Soda to soak my chicken. Again, just preference.
-If you think the chicken is drying out while you are cooking it in the pan, just sprinkle some of the juice of an orange on the top.
-If you don't have a glass pan, get one. No, seriously. Go get one right now. Still, if you can't get one right now, you can probably just use any 13x9 pan. Make sure you spray it though. If you don't, you might get the chicken stuck to the pan. You wouldn't want that.

For the pork chop recipe, click here

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Eat this chicken and ENJOY!!!

Sorry Readers!!

So, I've been a little lazy...ok, a lot lazy. Hopefully I will gain some inspiration and start back up again!

Maybe I will start again Monday and find something good to show you guys.

Until then, Happy Mother's Day!!

Thanksgiving Leftover's Casserole

So, I haven't been around lately. But I have just made a pretty darn good dish made of Turkey Day leftovers. I would have taken pictures, but I didn't. Maybe next year. Anyway. You'll see that I didn't use cranberry sauce but that's because I don't really like it. Here is my version:

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped turkey pieces
1 1/2 cups stuffing
1/2 to 1 cup cheese (I used mozzarella, it's not over powering like a cheddar. Muenster might work as well)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold all of it. Place mixture in a 8"x8", 9"x9", or 13"x9" pan. Cover with foil. Bake at 350dF for 20 mins.

==AndersenGirlie's Tips==
-I actually added cooked, crispy bacon to the top of my casserole.
-If you want to add Cranberry sauce, cut back on the sour cream and/or mayo. However much sauce you add, take away the same amount of the cream/mayo.
-Don't add any extra seasonings until after the Casserole has baked. It may already be packed with flavor and that last seasoning may make it gross.


If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible.