Seasoned Oyster Crackers

Back story: Right after Ross and I got married, we lived in student housing at the University of Utah while he finished his MBA. We were in a regular ward that met in the awesome little chapel just across from presidents circle up by the "U" and were called to be on the activities committee with this awesome lady named Marilyn. She was cool. She called the refrigerator the "re-fridge". It cracked me up all the time - not sure why but it was funny.

One of the activities we helped to plan was the annual chili cook-off. It was a big deal in this ward. I don't care for chili, but Marilyn brought seasoned oyster crackers. I was completely addicted to them. She brought gallons of them for the cook-off and I asked ever so kindly if I could take all the left-overs home. She said of course and I was in cracker heaven for a good week after the party.

 I totally forgot about the crackers until a week or so ago and then headed out to find a recipe. The following, from epicurious came pretty close so I tested it out and...voila!

Marilyn's crackers.

I've nearly devoured the entire bag.  I just can't stop.

Give them a try and you will wow yourself and everyone else who gives them a whirl.  Mix the ingredients up, and shake the mixture with the crackers.  Let the crackers dry on some paper towels for about 30 minutes and then put them in a clean air tight container.  The longer they sit, the better they taste.  They're good for a week, but they won't last that long.

3/4 cup vegetable oil

a 1-ounce package powdered ranch salad dressing mix

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

an 11-ounce package oyster crackers (about 6 cups)

Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Icing and Chocolate Ganache

This recipe called for a made from scratch chocolate cake that was sort of a mousse/souffle type thing.  I made that version and it didn't work so I ended up with just a basic chocolate cake.  No worries though because the joy of this cake is in the frosting.

Salted Caramel Butter cream Icing

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons water

1/2 heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks room temperature butter

3 + cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon good sea salt (or kosher salt, whatever you've got on hand)

First, you've got to make the caramel.  In a good and sturdy small sauce pot put the sugar and water over medium heat.  This is the base for your caramel.  You'll want to leave it alone (do not stir under penalty of law) and let it boil and bubble away until it is a nice medium amber color.  Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the cream and vanilla.  Set the caramel aside and let it sit and cool at leas 30 minutes.

Once the caramel is cooled, you can make the icing.  Cream two sticks of butter with a hand mixer.  Next add the sea salt and half of the powdered sugar.  Mix until combined and then add the caramel and the rest of the powdered sugar.  Depending on the consistency you're going for you might need to add a little milk or some more powdered sugar.

Chocolate Ganache

6 oz bittersweet/milk chocolate combination (mix it however you'd like.  I went 4 oz bittersweet and 2 oz milk)

6 oz heavy cream

dash of vanilla

While the caramel is cooling, make your ganache.  Heat the heavy cream over the stove on medium low heat.  As soon as the cream starts to boil pour it over the chocolate (made sure your chocolate is in a heat proof container).  Let stand about three minutes and then whisk the mixture until the chocolate is all melted.  Set the ganache aside.  If it doesn't thicken up enough on the counter top then put it in the fridge for five minutes at a time.  Check it because you don't want it to thicken up into a truffle consistency.

**

When you put the cake together, layer some butter cream and ganache between the two layers of the cake and add another layer of ganache to the top of the cake once you do your basic icing job.  Then drizzle some remaining ganache over the cake once it's all iced and ready to serve.

You'll have enough ganache to eat out of the bowl in your fridge a spoonful at a time for about three days after the cake is devoured.  That is my present to you.

SUper Bowl!

We had plans for a big super bowl party yesterday. Only one problem though. The host, my mom, was sick and the party got canceled. We switched plans, found some guests, and had a mini party at our house instead for the big game, which I didn't watch.

I was already planning on making potato skins so I just stood in my refrigerator for about 15 minutes and tried to figure out what else to serve our guests.

Our menu ended up being pretty simple but very yummy.
Potato skins
Home made chicken fingers (with a couple dipping sauces)
Nachos (with salsa and guacamole)
Chocolate chip nutella cookies.

It was total football food - Nothing healthy, everything tasty and from start to finish it only took me two hours to throw it all together. And even better, I have left over potato skins for today.

Potato Skins
(adapted from Pioneer Woman)
6 Russet Potatoes
10 slices of bacon
cheese
green onions/chives
sour cream

Bake the potatoes at 400 for 1 hour. Pull from the oven and let cool until you're brave enough to handle them, 10-20 minutes.
Cook your bacon.  When it's cooled, crumble it up.
Grate cheese.
Slice in half and scoop out the majority of the potato.
Brush the skins, both sides, with vegetable oil and salt both sides liberally.
Bake for 7 minutes. Flip and bake for another 7-10.
Pull from oven. Add cheese and bacon. Put the skins back in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Top with green onions, chives, and sour cream as desired.

S'more on a stick

Elliott's birthday was last weekend.  I wanted something yummy and quick to go with his cake, just as another food option.  I'm sure that this idea isn't new, but I was pretty impressed that I came up with it.  I made them two days in a row and then were crowd pleasers to say the least. 

So easy and yummy and mess free, this might be one of my more brilliant food inventions.

You'll need:
popsicle sticks
giant marshmallows
melting chocolate
crushed up graham crackers

Put the marshmallows on the stick. Dip in melted chocoate. Coat in graham crackers.

Eat.

It was a weekend of food

On Friday it was Ross' dad's birthday. I fixed a birthday dinner.

The only thing I took a picture of was the molten chocolate cakes. yum.


On Sunday we celebrated my mom's birthday with a Mexican fiesta.


Chicken enchiladas, beef empanadas and a whole lot of other stuff.

Today was my mom's actual birthday and I made her a treat. The chocolate icing was absolute heaven.

Food Party Favors

My cousin is getting married in one month. On Saturday, my aunt threw a bridal shower for her soon to be daughter-in-law. I volunteered to help with a few things, one of which was the party favors.

The shower had a kitchen/grocery theme so I knew that the favor needed to be food oriented. When my original idea didn't quite pan out, while wandering around cost plus world market I found these great old fashioned sodas and was inspired to use them for the shower favor.



Not being too crafty or creative, I didn't think until later about making a cute label to cover the soda label or anything like that. I did whip up a festive sticker to put over the yummy chocolates that I attached with a ribbon. That was about as creative as I got.



The sodas however were a hit - and I seemed to manage to get a flavor to fit everyone's taste (black cherry, grape, orange, chocolate, cola, key lime, lemon lime and root beer).

It's always fun to do a project - especially one that involves a little bit of sugary goodness.