Saturday, March 23, 2013

Mushroom and Leek Sandwich

I had an incredible sandwich from the cafeteria the other day and I thought I should share. See? There's something better than just burgers and pizza in the cafeteria. Or at least, at my school there is.


This sandwich was made of cooked mushrooms, leeks, and feta cheese on a warm baguette. I think I'll be trying to make my own version at some points. But first, I have to master cooking leeks, since I don't want to waste any precious feta cheese or mushrooms, let alone a baguette. This sandwich was DELICIOUS. I would eat this every day, if I could. In fact, I ate one every day this week! 
It went well with a carton of fat free chocolate milk and a side of fresh potato chips. The chips didn't exactly go along well, but, hey, they tasted good so whatever.



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Friday, March 8, 2013

Dorm-made Baking Cups

So, if you're like me, you realize that you're missing something at the very last second. In my case, as I was in the middle of making these Oreo cupcakes (oh, and these Chips A'hoy cupcakes), I realized I had only 3 cupcake tins (baking cups, whatever you want to call them). So, I had to make my own. Realizing full well that this is more of a craft than a recipe, I thought I should share with you how to make these in case you're in a similar situation.



Materials:
Aluminum foil
The base of a cup, the packaging to other baking cups (the cupcake pan itself can work, but doesn't work as well)

Instructions:
First, cut the aluminum foil into squares about as wide as half the length of the roll of foil.
Then, take the foil squares and shape around the base of a cup. I used the plastic packaging that held my previous baking cups. You can also use the cupcake pan, placed upside down, but this does not work as well, since you want your cups to be a little large for the pan.
Next, place your cups into the cupcake pan as though you were going to use them. Trim or fold down the edges of the foil cups. If you trim the edges, be sure that there are no small pieces of foil left in the cups, as these could pose a serious hazard. Personally, I think it's better just to fold over the edges. It doesn't look quite as neat, but the safety gained makes up for the rough-textured appearance.
Finally, pour your batter into your new baking tins and bake, at the temperature directed for shiny metal pans.


I hope not to have to use this again, but I know I probably will. I tend to realize at the last second that I'm short on essential materials, but I always have aluminum foil so I guess now I'm safe in case I ever run out of baking cups in the middle of a recipe again. Which reminds me, I need to actually buy those replacement baking cups, or I'll be making my own real soon.


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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Chips A'hoy Cupcakes

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made A LOT of cupcakes for my friend's birthday. The first cupcakes were Oreo cupcakes, but the second half of the bunch were Chips A'hoy Cupcakes.





Ingredients:
1 package of yellow cake mix
5 eggs
1/3 cup of melted butter
1 1/3 cups of milk
1 package of Chips A'hoy chocolate chip cookies

Recipe:
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
While the oven is preheating, using a mixer (electric or manual) mix the cake mix, milk, butter, and eggs in a large bowl.
Then, crumble 3/4 of the package of Chips A'hoy cookies. Add them to the batter using a spoon or similar until thoroughly combined.
Next, pour the batter into a cupcake pan lined with baking cups.
Next, bake for 18-21 minutes, using a toothpick to determine if the cupcakes are cooked thoroughly.
Finally, allow them to cool before frosting. I frosted with this chocolate frosting recipe and topped with quartered pieces of Chips A'hoy cookies.




These cupcakes were not quite as good as the Oreo cupcakes, but they weren't awful. I did, however, like the rough texture appearance of the quartered Chips A'hoy cookie on top of the cupcake. I think, in the future, if I ever try to make a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes (again), I will use this trick to decorate them.


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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Oreo Cupcakes

When I'm stressed, I bake. Something about stirring and mixing and concocting is just so soothing. It happened that one of my friends' birthdays was the same week as midterms, so I decided to make her some cupcakes. Ok, more than just some. A LOT of cupcakes. The first half were Oreo cupcakes.


Ingredients:
1 package of yellow cake mix
5 eggs
1/3 cup of melted butter
1 1/3 cups of milk
1 package of Oreos

Recipe:
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
While the oven is preheating, using a mixer (electric or manual) mix the cake mix, milk, butter, and eggs in a large bowl.
Then, crumble 3/4 of the package of Oreos. Add them to the batter using a spoon or similar until thoroughly combined.
Next, pour the batter into a cupcake pan lined with baking cups.
Next, bake for 18-21 minutes, using a toothpick to determine if the cupcakes are cooked thoroughly.
Finally, allow them to cool before frosting. I frosted with this frosting recipe and topped with halved pieces of Oreos.



I really liked making these cupcakes. They were the perfect way to destress during midterms. Plus, my friend liked getting these for her birthday, too. If you're going to do a cookies and cream cupcake, I highly recommend this recipe. These cupcakes had the perfect balance between the tastes of chocolate and of yellow cake. I plan on using this recipe again.


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