Mmmmn Squishy!

Marshmallow bunny intestines… Robitussin flavored… aka: home-made peeps gone terribly terribly wrong!

Apparently I inadvertantly stumbled upon the flavor combination for Robitussin cough syrup! I wanted to make marshmallow peeps for Easter and had decided to make them cherry-almond flavored. Who knew that when you add a little triple sec to amaretto and grenadine it tastes exactly like cough syrup?!? I figured that if I whipped enough air into them it might cut down the taste, but I think between that and adding a little extra gelatin to compensate for the excess liquid I created a mixture that was more gummy than marshmallow. Trying to get it off the baking sheet was frustrating and everything ended up all pulled out of shape…

The result?

Sparkly pink marshmallow bunny intestines (as pictured above)… and yes, they do sparkle! I mixed in some pearlescent cake decorating dust to help color it, which worked really really well actually. I figure that is because it includes corn starch so you already know it has the right consistency to stick.  Sooo yeah I don’t really have the time to try again right now, but wanted to share my squishy bunny guts with you all 🙂 You’re welcome!

-Kate

Goji Berry Brownie-cakes!

So a while ago I played around with making some goji berry brownies and made a high-fat batch and a low-fat batch.  Neither turned out very well so tonight, due to a major PMS inspired chocolate craving, I decided to give it another go.  This is mainly because, while not quite successful, the goji berries in the fatty-batch (aka: buttery brownie crumble) tasted amazing! Again, I have to preface this by saying that my cupboards are lacking and I put off doing my grocery shopping today *shameface* so I made these with egg beaters and crisco instead of butter. Ew.  You definitely need the added taste that only butter or margarine can bring to the table.

Prepping the goji berries:

You can easily find goji berries in your local whole foods.  They’re a pinkish color and come dehydrated.  Their taste is subtle, sweet, but also salty.  I don’t really like chewy things in my brownies so I rehydrate them.  However, you can also just add them into the batter as is for a little chew-factor!  They would complement walnuts really well… if you like walnuts in brownies… which I really don’t 😛 or if you like the combination of orange and chocolate you could rehydrate the berries in orange juice and then add some orange zest to the batter!

Dried Goji Berries

In a small bowl add a handfull of berries, agave nectar, honey, a touch of vanilla, and soy milk.  Stir and let sit for a little while.  I did this while I was defrosting my egg beaters.  Pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir and let sit until room temperature again. .. then pop them back in for another 30 and stir and let sit.  They should be nice, plump, and tender now.  Put this aside as you work on the rest of your batter.  They are the last thing to be added!

See them getting plumper?!

Brownie Batter:

• 1 cup butter/margarine/crisco
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• goji berries (prepped)

You know the drill!  Cream together the butter/margarine/crisco (ew) and sugar.  Add wet ingredients then dry.  At the tail end scoop the goji berries into the mixture.  While you certainly don’t want to get all of the milk mixture in there, make sure to spill at least a little bit in 😉  I decided to make my brownies in my muffin tin so that I could freeze the extra ones.  Bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour or until they’ve risen and you can stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean.

Brownie-cakes in the oven! 😀

... aaand out of the oven!

My only complaint is that they aren’t really as fudgy as I wanted 😦

-Kate

Fresh Picks Pizza No. 1

The past couple of months I began using this amazing produce service called Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks! Basically you can sign up to have a fresh picks box of locally grown, in-season produce delivered to your apartment weekly or bi-weekly for about $18. What I love most about this is that I never know what I’m going to get… only that its going to be fresh and delicious 🙂 I’ve already tasted so many veggies that I normally would just pass by in the grocery store. For example, grilled turnips are delicious!

One of my favorite things to do each week is make a pizza when I get my fresh picks box. I’ve begun keeping frozen balls of pizza dough in my fridge for just this purpose all ready to roll out and top with nummy veg. This week I got kale, an heirloom tomato, what I think is thyme, and loads of green onions. I began by making an impromptu pesto out of the kale, thyme, and green onions and added garlic powder (since I ran out of garlic), sesame seeds, salt, pepper, and paprika. I chopped it all up and added the spices and a bit of olive oil to help the flavors meld.

I then roasted a chicken breast in the oven (350 degrees) while I tackled the heirloom tomato…. Question: how the heck are you supposed to tell when an heirloom tomato has gone bad?!?!!!! I’ve never really cut into one before and the outside looked like it had been patch-worked together a la Frankenstein. When I cut into it the inside was all mushy and brown, but didn’t smell or taste off. It was also incredibly juicy, a factor that later served to make my pizza somewhat soupy. I also prefer my tomato in slices rather than chunks, but this one made that impossible.

Frankenstein Heirloom Tomato

Frankenstein added to impromptu pesto!