Food Quotes

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it." ~Julia Child


Luv2Cook

I am a single mother of two beautiful children Ben and Sophia. Together the three of us are setting out to explore all things culinary. We are planning on sharing all of our experiences such as creating a new recipe, making sweet treats, finding interesting places to eat, and whatever else we decide to share. The most important thing is to get them involved in the whole process so that they wont be so picky and hopefully gain an appreciation for ingredients.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Bakery in Germany

Cake Donut with Vanilla Frosting and Candy Sprinkles


Turkey Sandwich with tons of veggie's German Mustard
on a Home madeWhole Grain Roll

We had an overnight stop in Germany, last night we ate at a fantastic German Restaurant called Fat Emma's. I had JagerSchniztel and Spatezle it was sooooo good. The portion's were huge I will post pictures when I get it from one of the guy's I am traveling with. This morning before our flight we stopped in at a German Bakery to get coffee and breakfast.  YOu could smell all the fresh baked goodies from a mile away. And walking in and seeing the displays of pastries, one could harldy decide. I got a donut and a turkey sandwich for the plane ride. I drank a carmel macchiatto so much better then in the states. I wish I could have stayed longer! I want to come back for sure just for all the yummy food!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Blondie's with Chocolate Ganache

Blondie Batter dotted with Butterscotch
 and Semi Sweet Chips

Blondie's Baked

Frosted Chocolatey goodness!

Cut into Squares

Yummy!

I don't really need to say much about this recipe the pic's say it all. This is a Blondie Batter and I mixed in Chocolate and Butterscotch Chips and then iced with a Chocolate Frosting. This would be good with a scoop of ice cream.

Homemade Granola Two Ways

Ingredients
Oats




Tropical Granola Packaged Pretty
Linda experimented with making her own homemade granola last week. She made two different versions. The first one was with dark chocolate chips, almonds and mixed dried berries. The second version was had a tropical twist with white chocolate chips, tropical dried fruit, macadamia nuts and pistashio's. Both were soooooo good. I mostly snacked on it like a trail mix but it would be good eaten like a cereal or on top of yogurt. I am excited that she will be sending me homemade treats while I am away! It will give me something to look forward too.


Korean Taco's

Bulgogi with sauteed Mushrooms,
Peppers and Onions 

Here's the Fusion, of Korean and Mexican

Then adding Kimchi to the taco
This is a Popular dish in big cities, where Chef's want to try different
dishes and combine different Ethnicities
Serve with Rice
I have been gone for the past few weeks so my sis has been helping me with my posting. So she has been making recipes and sending so now I have time some time to post. My mom would be so happy to see that we fused one of the tradional dishes, Bulgogi she has made for us growing up with one of our favorite foods taco's. They have food trucks in big cities that specialize in different Korean Taco's. Yum! Thanks sis!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Rustic Nectarine Crostata


Gorgeous Nectarines

The Nectarines Sliced

Pie Crust Rolled out

Slices Arranged in a Spiral
The Crust folded around the sides
& dusted with Cinnamon and Sugar

Baked until Golden Brown
Nectarine Crostata Plated

Served warm with Vanilla Ice Cream
I had a bunch of nectarines in my fridge that I forgot about and thought I would try to make a tart of since I had some pie dough in the fridge as well. I like nectarines a lot they are a hybrid of a peach and plum. They aren't sweet and tart at the same time and the fruit holds up well to baking. I didnt have enough fruit to make a whole pie or enough to fill my tart pan so I figured I would go rustic and just fold up the edges around the fruit and then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and dotted with a little butter so the crust would brown. It didnt take long to bake and then once done served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Wicked Brownies

 All the Ingredients to make a Wickedly COSMIC Brownie

Mixing Dry Ingredients

Folding all together being careful not to overmix

Brownie baked on a sheet pan
Over a Pound of Dark Chocolate

Chocolate Chopped up
Add warmed Heavy Cream

Ganache ~ Stir Chocolate and Cream to combine
Spread the Ganache over the cooled Brownies

Frosted Brownies Sprinkled with
Rainbow Chocolate Chips

Cut Brownies into squares or whatever shape you want

Wicked Brownies Plated

Do they look familar.......hint...... Little Debbie : )

Sighhhh, this was my last bar of chocolate to use up before I leave, how bittersweet...... both literally and figuratively, lol. I wanted to make frosted fudgy brownies for the kids. I went to the craft store to look for something decorative for them like sprinkles and saw these. It made me think of the Little Debbie snacks, you know Cosmic Brownies. Do they even make them anymore? I am not sure I don't really by those snacks anymore since I make treats for the kids. But my sister's and I loved them with the pretty little colored chips on top. I baked these on a sheet pan (15x10x1, I believe) I like to bake my brownies in this pan because I can cut them into huge squares. Also it takes less time to bake off and cool, so quicker for us to enjoy them :). These were really fudgy like the Cosminc brownies I remember, but more for the adult palette with the dark chocolate. The kids and I love dark chocolate so it was heavenly, but if you dont care for it use a semi sweet or milk chocolate. It would also be neat to do the opposite and do a blondie with white chocolate frosting. I am still working on my photographing skills, I need my sis! It's getting better I think, at least I am not using my phone to take the pic's anymore lol. 

Turkey Pretzel Panini

Trader Joe's Pretzel Rolls

Rolls Piled up with Cheese and Turkey

On my AWESOME Panini Press

Sammy Pressed some more

Lettuce and Tomato Added
Perfect for the Dog Days of Summer!
By the time I get home after a long day at work and not to mention the heat, I don't feel like standing over a hot stove. So I like to make salads and sandwiches that are easy and don't require any cooking. And any excuse to pull out my panini press is also a plus, lol. My sis brought me these fresh pretzel rolls from Trader Joe's this weekend and I knew I wanted to make a turkey sandwich with them like the one's at Bennigan's that were so good. All that is on the sandwich is turkey, swiss cheese and honey mustard and what makes the sandwich is the pretzel roll. I made it my own and pressed it and added lettuce and tomato. For the kids sammy's I swapped the swiss for american cheese. They loved them and thought the cross on the top of the roll were just the bee's knees. :)  Sooooo good and perfect for these excruciating hot days!

Pizza Bites


Ingredients

My lil man helping roll out the dough

Assembly

Form a Ball
Pizza Bites

Place on Baking Sheet sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese


Perfect size for my Doodle Bugs

Ben and I decided to make stuffed Pizza Bites for dinner. So easy, just need to have your favorite sauce and toppings. We used store bought pizza dough, a jar of marinara, cheese, pepperoni and bacon(Ben's favorite). He helped me assemble these cute little balls and we had some dough leftover to make dessert. I baked the dough into little squares and had some leftover frosting from the cupcakes that I spread on the baked crust then we topped with peanut butter chips. He enjoyed it. If you are wondering where my phia is at she took a late nap and was being cranky. She did come and eat when she saw that there was chocolate pizza for dessert, lol.