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Iced Lemon Cookies

August 11, 2008 By Steph 19 Comments

Yes, I have returned from the big city and I have to say that I enjoyed myself soooo much.  I really loved Washington D.C.  I ate at some really cool restaurants, saw some amazingly beautiful sights, toured way too many museums and had Air Force One fly right over my head. It was a lovely getaway from the daily life of kids and stress.  Very relaxing and stress free.  The husband and I really needed that.  Bad.  Anyways, the hugs and kisses didn’t last long and than it was back to life as we know it.  It was a heart breaker though after returning and my 3 year old daughter said to me “Mommy, can you go away again for a long time and I’ll go stay with Grandma?”.  Yah, you bet my eyes were filled with tears after that one.  She had no idea how much I missed her.  I was so glad to be home and it was a straight punch in the gut. Innocent as her sweet little heart is..Kids! ÂYou gotta love them!

My next post I will be telling you about all the fun places we ate at, because I had some amazing suggestions from my lovely food blogging friends, and every last one of them were exactly as they described.  Only one bad experience and that one we should have known better.  I’ll keep you on your toes for that one.
So, I couldn’t wait to get back in the kitchen.  I was having baking withdrawls for sure.  My husband thought I was such a dork.  I had so many new ideas pop into my head while I was away, and I couldn’t wait to get back and try them out!  So the first one are these decedent Iced Lemon Cookies.  Yum.  Yes I know I have a million lemon posts on my blog.  I just can’t get enough of it.  Especially in the summer.  I crave lemon.  So these definitely hit the spot.  They are a spin on the classic sugar cookie with a burst of lemon.  Yum, yum, yum. I’m sure every last one will be devoured before tomorrow morning!
Iced Lemon Cookies
recipe by Stephanie
For the cookies:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1 egg
For the icing:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons milk
1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
2. Mix the butter, sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice until light and fluffy. Add egg.
3. Slowly add dry ingredients until well combined.
4. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scooper, scoop the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes or until firm.
5. Take out and cook 12 at a time at 350 degrees for 11-15 minutes or just until set.  Do not overbake. Let cool on wire racks.
6. In a small bowl mix the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and milk until creamy.  Top cookies with the icing.

Filed Under: blogging award, cookies, lemon

BBQ Chicken Drumettes

July 25, 2008 By Steph 10 Comments
My brain is a complete blank right now.  I can’t seem to form coherent sentences, but I will keep trying for the sake of this post!  I made these Barbecue Chicken Wingettes the other night and we were definitely licking our fingers clean.  Very delicious.  And whenever you can get all messy and use your hands is always a fun change.  My daughter loved smearing the sauce all over her hands and licking it right off.  I think she ate more sauce than actual chicken.  The recipe called for “drumettes“, but I could only find chicken labeled as “wingettes“.  If you ask me it looks exactly the same, but I may be wrong.  Nevertheless, this dish was a hit and I will definitely be making it again!  I got the recipe here.  Thank you Martha Stewart!

Brown Sugar Barbeque Chicken Drumettes
adapted from Martha Stewart (I scaled it down)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
course salt and black pepper
2 pounds chicken drumettes, patted dry
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together ketchup, sugar, worcestershire, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper.  Set aside 1/2 cup for tossing raw chicken; use rest for baked chicken.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Place drumettes on baking sheets and toss with 1/2 cup sauce.
4. Bake chicken until opaque throughout, 20-25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through.  Toss baked drumettes with a little more sauce and serve the remaining sauce on the side.
And one more final note, my dear sweet Mother recently started a French Linen business called My French Table.  She has some amazing French Imported tablecloths, aprons, kitchen hand towels and napkins.  They are really beautiful!  Make sure you check it out!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Filed Under: blogging award, chicken, main dishes

Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream

July 8, 2008 By Steph 22 Comments

I’ve been trying to come up with more and more of my own recipes.  I realized that it’s probably not the best idea to post all of the recipes out of the cookbooks that I haven’t actually written myself.  So I’ve been trying to get my brain thinking and I’ve been experimenting and trying to become a more creative artist in the kitchen.  Hopefully that all works out…it’s coming slowly though.  So, I just found these cute muffin cups that I wanted to use, and I was trying to create a half pound cake half cupcake recipe.  I had the recipe all on paper hoping it would all work out. My daughter helped me get the batter made and as I’m scooping it into the muffin cups I realize that I only added half the butter as I intended.  They turned out beautifully despite the mistake. Extremely buttery and moist.  The perfect cupcake.  I must not have had my baking “mojo” properly connected because another mistake of filling the muffin cups too full ended up as huge mess in my oven.  But they were salvaged.  These cupcakes were perfect.  I topped them off with a creamy chocolate buttercream frosting.  Delicious!

Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream
recipe by Stephanie
makes 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla (or you could use almond or lemon)
For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (or half and half or milk)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In a mixer, beat butter until creamy.  Add milk.  Add eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated.  Slowly add the dry ingredients until well mixed.  Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Batter should be fluffy and creamy.
2. Line muffin tin with muffin cups.  Fill the cups only 1/2 full with batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in muffin tin.  Transfer to wire rack to frost.
3. For the frosting, in a mixer cream the butter.  Add the cocoa and mix thoroughly.  Add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cup at a time, alternating with the cream until consistency is fluffy and creamy.  Frost on cooled cupcakes.

I felt so honored when I received not 1 but 2 Yummy Blog Awards! One from my good friend Jenny at Picky Palate and the second one from the lovely Leslie at The Hungry Housewife. Thanks girls! It made my day and made me feel very special! I’ve met some of the nicest people here in Foodie Land. I love seeing the creativity that comes from the blogs I love and it inspires me to do better! So now I want to pass this great award on to 5 other great Food Blogs. I could choose so many, but here are the glorious blogs I chose:

Holly at Phemomenom: Holly bakes so many wonderful treats, I really wish I lived next door. I could easily make everything on her blog and die a happy girl.  She is not afraid of a little flour and sugar, and I love that about her blog!
Lindsey at Cafe Johnsonia: I would hope that someday she does open her own cafe, because I would be a loyal customer!  Everything that Lindsey makes seems so fresh, healthy and delicious!  I love pulling up her blog nearly everyday and finding a new and delicious post and my mouth waters every time!
Lori at Recipe Girl: Lori’s blog is outstanding.  I love seeing her new posts and the bounty of recipes she has on hand!  She always has something new and delicious waiting for me when I turn on my computer!
Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen: Kalyn is all about healthy, and so when I look at her blog, it inspires me to be more healthy in my cooking.  It is easy to get so many wonderful ideas to lighten up your diet!  Something I need for sure…
Emiline at Sugarplum: Emiline is truly original. She creates all of her own recipes and it is truly an inspiration!  Her recipes are all mouthwatering.  I’ve made a few and they were all completely delicious!

Make sure you check out these great blogs and be inspired!

Filed Under: blogging award, cupcakes, desserts

Creamy Peanut Butter Cups

April 21, 2008 By Steph 26 Comments

These are amazing! I like that the peanut butter is mixed in with the chocolate, it makes them so creamy and absolutely divine!

Solid Peanut Butter Cups
12 oz. melted chocolate (I used 9 ounces semi-sweet squares and 3 ounces white chocolate squares)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Melt chocolate according to package directions, taking care not to overheat.  To the melted chocolate, add the peanut butter, sugar and vanilla.  Mix well.  Spoon or pipe chocolate mixture into small baking cups.  Refrigerate until set.  Enjoy!

Filed Under: blogging award, candy, desserts