meatloaf

The other day it was a bit of a dreary day and my roommate was having a sort of bad day, so I decided to make some comfort food. I'd been wanting to try making meatloaf for a while because it is usually made with eggs, and I wanted to try making it without eggs for my roommate.

I adapted this from the recipe that my grandma usually makes out of our family cookbook. I know, you wish you had a family cookbook too. I just threw in whatever spices I felt like. Feel free to mix it up however you want.

Meatloaf
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground elk
2 slices bread, crumbled up
ketchup
splash red wine
dash cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, chili powder

Crumble the two slices of bread in a bowl. I was able to find bread that wasn't made with eggs, so I went with that.

Then season with the spices you choose to use.


Add the ketchup.


Then add in the beef and elk as well as the red wine. Mix it all up together. I used my hands because that's just how I roll but I supposed you could mix it with a spoon.

Place in a loaf pan and pour some more red wine over it. Then top with some tomato sauce and bake at 350* for 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. I think mine was about 45 minutes because my oven runs hot.

I'm not a big meatloaf person. I didn't really grow up eating it, but this turned out well. I actually think it was better the next day because it had time for the flavors to combine and sit together and be all happy. It might actually be good to let it sit for a bit and marinate before topping with the tomato sauce and baking it.

oatmeal

I love oatmeal. There was about 3 months of my life that I ate oatmeal every single morning for breakfast, and while I don't have that kind of devotion to it any more, I still love a good bowl of oatmeal. This is how I make mine.


In a saucepan combine the appropriate amounts of old fashioned oats and water or milk as well as a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg, a handful of chopped pecans and some honey. Allow this to cook over medium heat until it thickens.


Then stir in about 1 chopped banana and allow to cook for just a minute before enjoying a delicious and nutritious breakfast of champions.

This is just one of the many variations of oatmeal that I have made. One of the things I love about oatmeal is that like shortbread it is a very basic thing and so it is easy to make many variations of the same thing and each one has a bit of a different flavor and taste to it.

coconut milk ice cream

I've been craving coconut milk ice cream for a while now. My mum generously gave me her freeze and make ice cream maker. You freeze the inner portion and then turn the hand crank to make the ice cream. So I was finally able to make coconut milk ice cream. I was inspired by this lovely post, but went the non-chocolate route. I didn't really measure anything. I used 1 can of coconut milk, a sprinkle of cinnamon, some toasted coconut and some agave. The only thing that I would have changed is the amount of agave that I put in. It was super delicious!!


Whisk together all the ingredients and then make the ice cream according to the directions of your ice cream maker. For me that meant pour into the frozen part and turn the crank.


Then enjoy with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. If you made it so it wasn't quite sweet enough add a drizzle of honey on top.

coconut cupcakes

You may remember that I made a coconut cake for my sister's bridal shower back in April. I realized that this recipe would also make great coconut cupcakes. So that's what I did. It helped a lot with the dryness of the cake to make them in cupcake form instead. I also didn't bake them as long. I was also making these so that my roommate could enjoy them as well, so I adjusted the recipe somewhat from my coconut cake recipe. I also cut the recipe in half as I didn't need as much batter for the cupcakes as I needed for a three layer cake.

Coconut Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter
1 cup coconut sugar
1 2/3 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose, and this was approximate)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 Tbsp. applesauce
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
dash cinnamon
sprinkle nutmeg
toasted coconut

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.


Add the tapioca flour and applesauce.


Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill cupcake wrappers and bake at 350* for about 15 minutes. I iced these cupcakes with the remaining frosting that I had from the coconut cake and sprinkled them with toasted coconut. Delicious.

peanut butter + dark chocolate = heaven

I discovered heaven yesterday on my sweet friend's blog. Please, please, please, if you try no other recipes on here, please, try this one. You will not regret it, I promise. Unless you don't like peanut butter or dark chocolate, in which case I don't promise. But you should try it anyway because you might change your mind. Deliciousness has a way of making that happen.

I have a dear friend in Scotland right now who is a kindred baking spirit, and she posted a recipe for giant peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and I just knew I had to try them. You should just go look at her blog anyway because she's funny and sweet and lives in Scotland and she's my friend. . .'nough said. I tweaked her recipe just a bit to accommodate for my roommate because I wanted her to try them too because everyone should try these cookies. The End. Okay, so here's my altered recipe.

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
sprinkle freshly grated nutmeg
sprinkle cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut sugar
6ish Tbsp. applesauce
1 pkg. dark chocolate chips

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Then add the peanut butter and beat again. Then add the sugars and beat again.

Add the applesauce and beat again.


In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and whisk together. Then add to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until just combined.


By hand stir in the dark chocolate chips. Then take a good handful of dough and roll it between your palms and place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.


Bake at 350* for 12 minutes turning the pans halfway through.


Then enjoy the deliciousness that awaits you. May I just say you know the mark of a good cookie when it falls apart when you are taking them off the baking sheet, these definitely did. Yum! Thanks Anna for making my day with these delightful cookies!!

it's grilling season

I love to grill, so I get very happy when the weather gets to the point where it is fun to grill. I love that you can cook an entire meal on the grill which is exactly what I did the other day. My mom sent me home with some lovely porkchops, so I put those in a little marinade of olive oil, pineapple juice, basil, curry powder, turmeric, garlic salt, pepper, and chili powder. It would have been better if they could have sat in the marinade for a while or overnight, but they were good anyway.

I also just cut up a pineapple and an eggplant and grilled them as well. I had never cooked with eggplant before, and I'm interested to try cooking with it again, as it was little different by itself. I do love learning how to cook with new foods, though, so it should be fun.



A delicious, nutritious meal fresh off the grill. Hello summer!

Oatmeal Cake

As soon as I saw this recipe for Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cake I just knew I had to give it a try. I'm not sure what exactly it was that appealed to me about it. Maybe because the word Old-Fashioned is in the name? I do have a love of all things old-fashioned. At any rate, I decided to give it a try. Here is my adjusted recipe. And I apologize about the absence of pictures.

Oatmeal Cake
1 1/2 c. old fashioned oats
1 3/4 c. boiling water
3/4 c. honey
3/4 c. coconut sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
9 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce (give or take a little)
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
1 1/2 c. flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Topping
2/3 c. sugar (I used dark brown and raw sugar)
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped pecans

Combine the oats and the boiling water and allow to sit while you combine the rest.

In a separate bowl cream together the butter, coconut sugar and honey. Add the vanilla and applesauce and mix well. Then add the remaining ingredients including the oatmeal. Mix until well combined. Spread in a greased 9x13 pan and bake in a 350* oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking combine the ingredients for the topping. When the cake is done baking, spread the topping over it and place under a broiler for 1-2 minutes until the topping is golden brown and bubbly. Enjoy!

shortbread variations

One of the things that I love so much about shortbread cookies is that they are a very basic, simple cookie that can be spiced up with whatever sounds good, and to suit the tastes of the people eating them.

This first version I only have one picture of, but they were delicious. I added dark chocolate pieces and toasted almonds to a dark brown sugar and whole wheat flour shortbread. These went with the banana bread and monster muffins to my friend who was hosting company a couple of weekends ago.

Dark Chocolate Almond Shortbread
1 cup butter
2 cups flour (I used all whole wheat)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
fresh grated nutmeg
dash cinnamon
dash cloves
dark chocolate pieces
toasted almonds

Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla and spices. Beat in the flour. Then stir in the dark chocolate pieces and toasted almonds. Chill. Roll out and cut out cookies. Bake at 350* for 13 minutes, turning the cookie sheets at the 8 minute mark.

This second version I made for my sister's bridal shower. A friend and fellow baker loves using lavender in her baking. That was what inspired me to try these.

Lavender Lemon Shortbread
1 cup butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups flour (I used unbleached all purpose)
dash cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
juice of 1/2 lemon (about, I think I used a little less)
zest of 1 lemon
sprinkle of lavender (it was probably around 2-3 Tbsp.)

Cream together butter, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon juice.

Beat in flour.


Then stir in the lemon zest and lavender. Bake at 350* for 13 minutes, turning the cookie sheets at the 8 minute mark.


These are delightfully fresh and light. I like using the unbleached all-purpose flour for these because it really allows the flavor of the lavender and the lemon to come through. Whereas I feel that the dark chocolate of the first version really needs the whole wheat flour to back it up a bit.

strawberry chocolate scones

You can't have a bridal shower tea party without scones, so these are the ones that I made up for my sisters shower last weekend. My recipe is adapted from the Alice's Tea Cup version.

Chocolate Strawberry Scones
3 cups flour (I think I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 unbleached all purpose)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/4 cups hulled and quartered strawberries
3/4 cup dark chocolate pieces (I used dark chocolate chips)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
heavy cream and sugar to brush and sprinkle on top

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your clean hands.

Chop up the butter.


Then work it into the dry mixture with your hands. You want to get it to the consistency of fine bread crumbs. Then I stopped taking pics for a bit, but next you want to add the strawberries and chocolate pieces and mix them in well so that they are evenly distributed throughout. Then make a well in the center of the mixture and add in the buttermilk and vanilla. Combine until the dry ingredients are all wet. DO NOT KNEAD! If you knead the dough, the scones will be tough (tough is okay if you are talking about men but not if you are talking about scones, just saying).


Then pat the dough out on a floured surface and cut into triangular pieces. Mine got a bit messy and crazy, but worked out in the end. I think I would almost rather have cut them out with my round cutter I usually use for scones. You can do what you want. Then brush the tops with a bit of cream and sprinkle with just a tiny bit of sugar and bake at 425* for about 12 minutes.

coconut cake

I saw this recipe for coconut cake in a cookbook I received as a Christmas present this last Christmas, and I have been wanting to make it since then. As it has eggs in it, I figured my sister's bridal shower was the perfect opportunity for me to try this recipe.

Coconut Cake
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1 cup coconut sugar)
4 large eggs
2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk (I used coconut milk)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup toasted coconut

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture and the milk alternately to the butter mixture. Stir in the toasted coconut and pour the batter into 3 greased 9 inch cake pans.* Bake at 350* for 18-20 minutes. I started with 15 minutes and then added another 3, but mine came out a little dry, so they may have been slightly over cooked.

Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbsp. milk (I used almond milk, but alternately you could use coconut milk)
1 tsp. coconut rum

Combine the butter and sugar and then add the vanilla, milk and rum. Beat until smooth and the consistency to frost the cake. To frost: Place the bottom layer on the cake plate, brush with coconut milk and a layer of frosting. Continue with the layers in the same way and top with toasted coconut.

As I said above, this turned out a little drier than I really wanted it to be, but that may have been due to being a little overcooked. I also would like to try this with just two layers instead of three because I think the layers were a little thin which could also have caused it to be a little drier. All together, though, I liked this cake fairly well and with a little tweaking I think it could be really fantastic, but then I do have a slight obsession with coconut.

*Note: I have trouble getting my cakes to come out of the cake pans easily, so I cut a paper towel the size of the bottom of the pan and place that in the bottom and then spray the pan with cooking spray. The cake comes out easily, and then the paper towel just peels off the bottom.