Potato and Mozzarella Croquettes

Have you ever eaten a potato croquette?  I have them very rarely, but every time I eat one I am taken aback with how freaking good they are.  Recently I had one at Fiamma that I just can't get out of my head.  That's what made me decide to give these a whirl.  That and the fact that whenever I'm on vacation I'm always looking for a project I would never have time for during the week.

This recipe comes from Food and Wine.  The recipe looks long and daunting, but it really doesn't require a lot of skill.  It's just time consuming.

Note: I do not have a food mill, I used a cheese grated to break down the potatoes after they cooled.  It worked very well.

Was it worth the 2 hours?  Yes, for sure.  These were exactly what I wanted them to be.  Soft and fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside.

I can't believe I made potato croquettes!!  Now I need to have a formal dinner party to dazzle some guests with these.

Farewell Cupcakes

Now where to begin.... I got this cupcake mix as a gift.  The Contessa makes cupcake mixes! How exciting! She even let's you use your own butter and water and doesn't require you to use "really good" ingredients like she does on her show.

There was a slight disaster of some over flowing cupcakes.  She said it makes 12, but I will advise you to make more around 16 out of the batter.  I made 12 in a muffin tin and one in a ramekin, and the cupcakes were still filled too high.

Another issue I had with the mix was that there was the ridiculous amount of frosting.  I would definitely half the frosting recipe, that's how much was left over.

With all that said these are crazy delicious.  Definitely an upgrade from the usual supermarket cupcake mixes.

Would I recommend you buy the Contessa's instead?  I'm not so sure it's worth the trouble.

These are farewell cupcakes because I am moving.  The blog will carry on as usual, at least that's the plan.  Oh, and guess what?  The kitchen lighting is amazing so get fired up for some great photos soon!

Peanut Butter Cake

This peanut butter bomb cake, recipe from The Country Cook, made an incredible birthday cake for my friend.

I used chunky peanut butter because that's what we had in the house.  I was nervous about it, but in the end I wouldn't have had it any other way.  If I were you whipping up this cake, I'd use chunky.  It adds a whole new element to the cake.

Since this was a birthday cake, I decided to go with some festive sprinkles for decoration.

FYI  this cake was eaten in less than 24 hours.  It's that good.  Seriously.  And who doesn't love recipes that start with cake mix?

Breakfast Casserole

More breakfast creations! The best part about this recipe, it is just so freaking simple and can be altered however you want it. Maybe add some meat, fresh herbs, or vegetables?

4 ingredients.  Think you guys can handle that? Eggs, crescent rolls, cheese, and milk.  

Breakfast Casserole

Adapted from Bob Evans

1 can of crescent rolls

2 cups shredded cheese (I used Muenster, but I think you use any cheese you please here)

5 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup of milk

salt and pepper

Directions: 

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Line bottom of a greased 13 x 9 inch dish with crescent roll dough.  Make sure to pinch perforations shut.

3.  Sprinkle cheese in an even layer on top of crescent rolls.

4.  Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper and pour over cheese.

5.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving

I served my casserole with bacon on the side.

Such a simple and indulgent breakfast.

French Toast Muffins

These are not muffins that are flavored like french toast. These delicious babies are french toasts in muffin form.  This recipe is from Two Peas and Their Pod.

Here's how it all goes down.  

You dice up a loaf of french bread.  

Plop the pieces in a muffin tin.  

Pour the cinnamon vanilla custard mixture over each one and let it all soak in for a few hours.

Top with brown sugar cinnamon streusel.

Eat up!

Feel free to serve these up with some syrup, but I didn't think that was necessary.

These are sooooo tasty!  They would make an impressive addition to a brunch table or even a holiday breakfast.

Momofuku Blueberry and Cream Cookies

If you've never been to Momofuku Milk Bar, I suggest you make the trip.  Their treats are tasty and unique. They are also awesome because they sell a few of their cookie varieties in packaged mix form.  I got mine from Williams Sonoma.  I actually made one of their cookies a while back here, yikes the horrible photography of 3 years ago!

This time around I made blueberry and cream cookies.  Now I want to let you know that you, should you purchase this mix someday, that this is no simple quick task. These cookies require a number of steps in the preparation of each ingredient.  You can see all the different packages above.

I did my best to follow the seemingly never ending instructions.  You know how I get, but I had a feeling all of these instructions were for actual quality reasons.

And surprise, they came out great!

Lemon Ricotta Zucchini Galette

This recipe came from an issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  The recipe is available online, but they force you to become a member in order to view it.  Ridiculous!  Here is Smitten Kitchen's version of it.  Just use store bought pie crust and add some lemon zest and juice to mix cheese mixture and it'll be the same as mine.

Another recipe note:  I made 2 of these for my family of 4.  I used 1 zucchini for each and doubled the filling requirements.  If they think 1 will serve 4 people they've never fed a family before, at least not my family.

Above are the galettes before the oven.  Below they are post oven, nice and golden brown.

We each got a half of a galette.  Which really is not a crazy amount of food ok? So quit judging us!

This really is just a perfect light, fresh, summer meal.

PB & J Yogurt Bites

This post was created to be entered in the Cookies and Cups and Confessions of a Cookbook Queen's creative recipe contest.  Lucky for me the contest got extended another week, so I decided to give it another go and enter again!

I used Shelly's Orange Creamsicle Yogurt Bites as my inspiration for this recipe.  How did I make it my own? I used strawberry Jell-O and made peanut butter whipped cream to top it with.  Yea that's right, peanut butter whipped cream. Get ready for it.

PB & J Yogurt Bites
Adapted from Cookies and Cups

1 1/2 cups of vanilla yogurt
1 3oz package of Strawberry Jell-O
1/2 cup Cool Whip
2 tables spoons peanut butter

1.  Line 12 mini-muffin tin with liners.
2.  In a medium microwave-safe bowl, mix yogurt and Jell-O.
3.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring after each minute.
4.  Fill cupcake liners with yogurt mixture.
5.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.
6.  In a small bowl mix Cool Whip and peanut butter.
7.  Pipe onto each cooled and set up yogurt bite.
8.  Eat up!

These are so easy to make and multiply.  I think they would be a welcome, fun new addition to a lunch box this September.

This recipe is easy, delicious, and simply adorable!

I am entering these PB & J Yogurt Bites in the Creative Recipes Contest by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups!

Dessert Pizza

I made this for my little cousin's 7th birthday.  She loves cooking, especially cooking pizza, so I tossed and turned one night until I came up with the very best dessert pizza.  I'm sure it's actually all over the internet, but I thought I was a genius when I came up with it.  So we'll continue to imagine it was all my idea, ok?

It begins with a chocolate chip cookie crust.  I took the easy route and used store bought cookie dough.  I baked mine up in a round pizza pan.

When the cookie was cooled, I spread raspberry jam all over.  I made it a point to leave some cookie dough showing for the crust of the pizza.

Then I, well actually my lovely assistant, used a cheese grater to grate up white chocolate for the "cheese."

I must say, I was really impressed with how this came out.  It certainly looked just like a pizza, oh and it was tasty.  Best part about it? With store-bought cookie dough this baby has just 3 ingredients! Success!