Recipes Master 13

Summertime and the peaches are perfect!    I love fruit filled muffins and these are particularly yummy! Easy (of course, or I wouldn't be bloggin' 'em), and perfect for breakfast or top with ice cream for a lovely dessert! The recipe calls for buttermilk which I never have on hand, but you can use a mixture of milk and vinegar to get the same results! 1 tablespoon vinegar for every cup of milk should do it.  You will notice the vinegar will curdle the milk which is exactly what you want! Ingredients 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour ¾ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¾ cup granulated sugar 1 cup buttermilk (or scant 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar) 5 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 large egg ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1½ cups peeled, sliced,  fresh or unthawed frozen peaches Turbinado sugar for sprinkling Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   ...

My friend Christina got engaged last week,  and her new fiance proposed using 'thier kids'. (see below pic)...how cute is that! Christina is known for her uber picky eating habits, so when I heard she loves cupcakes I knew that store bought would just not do! I am not much of a perfectionist when it comes to baking.  I prefer a more 'rustic' approach.    Piped on frosting and sprinkly little things are just not me.  But with some store bought caramel topping drizzled on top and a wafer cookies from Trader Joes,  I think they came out okay!    Christina loved them and that's what counts...I believe she downed 2 of them!  (oops, didn't mean to tell!). The secret to these beauties is using Jumbo cupcake liners in your regular size muffin tin.  It turns ordinary cupcakes into big beautiful cupcakes! You can use a homemade cake mix (see below) or a box mix.    If you choose a box, try to ...

This is a tried and true recipe.  It has been around since at least 1982. And how do I know that?  I know that because my parents had a small restaurant and I used to bake these cupcakes every morning.  Yup,  just me and the crickets that found there way under our refrigerator from the pet store next to our restaurant...oh yeah, those were the days. Who wouldn't wanna eat at a restaurant with crickets and cupcakes?  We did serve Starbucks though, one of the first restaurants to carry it south of Seattle,  and I'm sure the first to serve it with crickets. My little sister Kelli and I cooked and ran the restaurant. We were famous...famous for arguing all day and stealing beer all night.  I'm happy to say, we sold the restaurant after few years, we started buying are own beer and my sister and I are pretty good pals. The good thing about running my folks restaurant is that it culminated ...

I went to Phoenix last weekend to spend some quality time with the most influential woman in my life...my Mom!   She is the reason I cook, write and laugh. She is without a doubt the happiest person I know!  How cool is that? Every morning she gets up and in her beautiful sing-song voice says, "Good Morning Sweetie Pie!".  I want to make it the ring tone on my cell, it just lifts my spirits! You know that scene in the beginning of Wizard of Oz where the film is still in black and white ? Dorothy's house lands in Oz....she opens the door and there it is, a world of color.  That is my Mom every day. Everyday is magical. Magical, happy, and in full Technicolor! She is an amazing cook in her own right, but she is also an accomplished actress...yup, my mom is a star! She was well known in the theatre world in Seattle, until she got tired of the rain and took her talent south.  She has been in countless movies, TV...

As some of you may know, I work for Starbucks...and no, I do not have any inside information on the recipe for this bread...but what I got is a daughter who is an amazing cook and loves Pinterest!  She found this recipe yesterday and whipped it up last night, and it tastes just like the Starbucks stuff...except hers is better because she added frosting.  I just love the way that brain of hers works! Now if Starbucks sues me for plagiarism, I can only hope they sue the the gal who originally posted it on Pinterest.  Notice, I didn't mention her site...us bloggers stick together :)    Ingredients 1 ½ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground clove ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ½ teaspoon salt 4 eggs 1 cup sugar ¼ cup dark brown sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla ¾ cup canned pumpkin ¾ cup vegetable oil 1 cup butter cream frosting (store bought works great) Directions Preheat ov...

I love, love apple cake!  This is a dense pound cake type with tons of topping and homemade caramel sauce.  I think you could easily use store bought caramel sauce and save yourself the time...but it's kinda cool to make your own! Let me save you some time on this cake.  I learned it the hard way and was all over the kitchen trying to put this together, when it fact it is just 4 easy steps.  Follow in this order and you will bang this out in half the time that I did...and probably make half the mess. 1.) Peel and slice apples 2.) Make caramel sauce 3.) Make topping while carmel sauce cools 4.) Make cake while topping cools Sounds complicated...but it's not at all.  Your just preparing one part of the cake, while other parts of the cake are cooling.  Another hint, do not substitute a 7" Spring Form Pan for a 9" or you will have a mess in your oven...wonder how I know ???  I managed to save the cake but it took a little bit to get a decent pict...

Biscotti is so very easy to make, easier than cookies and really impressive as a gift. This particular recipe includes coffee and a little milk to give it that cappuccino flavor.     How is it that they are drizzled in chocolate bunny you ask?   I had this beautiful Dove Chocolate bunny that had been decapitated by my daughter on Easter but  never touched again. I just couldn't see chucking the poor little guy, head or no head, it was still chocolate and good chocolate at that!  So, I chopped it up, threw some in the biscotti and melted the rest for glaze.  Damn clever if you ask me!  You could certainly use chocolate chips if you don't have a decapitated bunny lounging around.   Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (I used Starbucks VIA...du...

Portable Strawberry Shortcake!  You can take it on the road with you, and anytime you need a little taste of summer...take a little nibble. I've been wanting to blog this recipe since the dark days of winter and finally, the sun is out in Seattle and there is reason to celebrate! I consider myself a savory, not sweet girl (and there are many that would back me up on that)...that may be why I love these cookies.  They have a biscuit quality to them, not overly sweet, just enough to let those beautiful berries shine through. These were a little difficult to master.  I finally got it right on my second try, but let me save  you a step.  After  you mix the berries in, put the dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes...otherwise they tend to spread all over the cookie pan...also, serve them within a day, the strawberries can get a bit mushy...tasty, but mushy. Ingredients  2 cups diced strawberries 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup sugar total 2 cups flo...