I love cute food :)

No crazy new recipe today- just a little fun with food!! I bought ground beef to make burgers and then decided to hit the bakery for buns (too late to bake them). My bakery had big bags of "Slider" buns on sale...so dinner was decided! To have a little fun with them, I decided to serve them three ways.
First, I used the lid from my peanut jar, lined with plastic wrap to make the right size burger for my buns. 1 and 1/2 lbs of ground beef gave me 14 mini burgers.

I seasoned both sides with salt and pepper and took them to the grill.

For toppings, I used Cheddar, American, Pepper Jack, Tomatoes, Onion, Lettuce, Homemade Chipotle Mayo, Bacon and Sautéed Mushrooms.

Aren't these little slider buns adorable? Can't wait to make my own!

Tons of tiny burgers cooking on the grill...with a delicious side of grilled zucchini.

And the finished product...Pepper Jack with Sautéed Mushrooms, Cheddar with Bacon and Chipotle Mayo, and classic American with tomato, onion and lettuce.

Served with a side of grilled zucchini and Roasted Carrots and Radishes. A perfect "summery" dinner :)

And Robyn enjoyed her first cheeseburger with a huge helping of ketchup!

For the love of Blue Cheese!

WOW! Sometimes I get a little nervous trying a recipe from Allrecipes that hasn't been reviewed. I love to read the reviews and know someone has tried it before me. However, this recipe sounded so good, I decided to dive in and be the first review!!! It's raining here today and since the temperatures are cool, I decided to do one last day of bread making. Today's feature- Blue Cheese and Cracked Pepper Bread. Yum :)

First, this recipe called for Rapid Rise yeast, and I only had dry active yeast. I put 2 1/4 tsp of yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water with 1/4 tsp of sugar and let it proof.

The recipe called for room temp butter, eggs and milk. I used the same trick I do when making pretzel bread. I microwaved the butter until hot and add the cold milk and then the eggs...everything was then room temp!! I added this mixture to the yeast and 1 cup of bread flour. Stir well.


Add in 1 tsp salt, pepper (I used 1 tsp because I LOVE black pepper), blue cheese (recipe calls for 1 cup, I used the whole tub of crumbles which was 5 oz). Stir together with another cup of bread flour.


Add in the final cup of bread flour and mix until smooth. This formed a beautiful dough and since I was making it by hand instead of in a mixer, I dumped the dough onto my counter and kneaded it until smooth...about 4-5 minutes. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.


After resting, I kneaded the dough for another two minutes. The recipe is made to create one loaf of bread, but I wanted two smaller loaves (so I could give one to my mom). I cut the dough in two and pressed into two greased loaf pans. Allow to rise for 45-60 minutes until doubled in size.


Bake the loaves at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. The smell was amazing and they turned out beautiful!


Immediately remove the bread from the pans and brush with butter. I couldn't resist- I also had t0 cut a chunk off the end :) This bread turned out so delicious. Moist with a beautiful cheese crust and the blue cheese and black pepper really shine. A wonderful recipe I will make again for sure!

Muffuletta's for the Mom I love so much!

I have two wonderful parents...that have been working VERY hard to build us a beautiful new deck. Since they were coming to work over Mother's Day weekend, I wanted to make some extra special meals for my mom.
My mom is one of my very best friends. We talk on the phone at least once a day...sometimes four or five times! She is an amazing mom and grandma. I had a wonderful childhood and learned so many of my passions from my mom. Cooking, gardening and mothering my own child are all special things my mom taught me. I seek advice, comfort, adventure and friendship in our relationship...and I am met with an abundance of love. So in honor of my mom...a Mother's Day Muffuletta!
Of course, this recipe began with the bread!! I searched the internet for the perfect Muffuletta recipe. I'll be honest, I was excited about a lot of them. BUT I don't care how traditional it is, I don't want carrots, celery or pickled vegetables on my sandwich. This is a combination of several recipes as well as some of my own influence. The bread recipe came from this site: http://cookingfortwo.about.com/od/soupssaladssandwiches/r/muffalettabread.htm It begins with yeast, water and sugar. Add in AP flour, Bread flour, olive oil and salt. This recipe involved a lot of rising!!! Form the dough into a ball and allow to rise for 90 minutes.

After the dough has doubled in size, you knead it for two minutes and form it into two balls.

Allow to sit for 15 minutes and then press into an 8 inch disk and transfer to a baking sheet. Prick the top with a fork all over.

Allow to rise for ANOTHER 90 minutes until doubled in size again.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

I made the olive salad and the bread the day before. I wanted the flavors of the olive salad to have time to combine. I used green olives, black olives, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, red wine vinegar, olive oil and one clove of garlic. Chop finely and cover with plastic wrap.

The bread...oh the bread. It came out so beautiful!!

Slice the loaf in half making the bottom half much thicker...just slicing off the top.

Pull out as much of the center as possible, leaving the base of the bread intact.

Begin layering the meat and cheese. A traditional Muffuletta has Mortadella, Salami, Ham, Mozzarella and Provolone. I couldn't find Mortadella, so I swapped in some roasted chicken.

Keep alternating layers of meat and cheese, pressing each layer as you go. I used 3/4 lb of meat and 3/4 lb of cheese.

Fill the lid of the sandwich with the olive salad.

Place the halves together and wrap VERY tight with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Slice into wedges and enjoy!

Look at all those tasty layers! The olive salad made the sandwich. It was super delicious and we didn't have any leftovers :)

Happy Mother's Day to a wonderful mom. Thank you for everything you do for me!

~ Love, Kathleen

Who knew I loved Black Beans so much??

I've been looking for "healthy" meals I can eat during the week, that can be easily prepared for just me when Mark is working. I've eyeballed this recipe several times and decided to take a stab at it...and I'm glad I did!! Tonight's feature- Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers.

First- the ingredients:

Bread Crumbs
Black Beans
Onion
Garlic
Green Pepper
Carrots (I added this)
Hot sauce
Cumin
Chili Powder
Egg
And I added a dash of salt

Throw all the veggies in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.


Drain and rinse black beans and dry on a few paper towels.


I drained my veggie mixture to get rid of the extra moisture. Stir into the mashed black beans.


Add bread crumbs, spices and egg. I needed a little more bread crumbs than the recipe called for.

I used a lid with a little plastic wrap to shape these. They were pretty soft.


I doubled the recipe so I would have a stash in the freezer. It made 9 burger patties.


I also made a little chipotle mayo to but on top. 1/2 cup light mayo, 3 chipotles, 1 spoonful of adobo sauce and 1 clove of garlic, plus a pinch of salt.


After completing my project, the quickest option was to cook one up on the stove top. I used a little cooking spray and it browned nicely on both sides.


Served on a whole wheat bun with a little pepper jack cheese, lettuce and tomato. Spicy and delicious!!


I will make this recipe again, but they are pretty soft. I would like to try adding some flax meal or oatmeal in place of the bread crumbs...but the taste was great!

I've Fallen in Love with Fondant!

I wanted to do a fairly intricate cake for Robyn's birthday this year. I didn't see how I could possibly pipe all the decorations, so I got brave and decided to try Marshmallow Fondant. It was awesome! Not only was it easy...it produced beautiful results that taste good!

Can you say, simple? Melt one bag of mini marshmallows and slowly add in 1 bag of powdered sugar, using butter to knead it into a soft dough.


Once the dough forms, I rubbed it with butter and wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap. Throw it in the refrigerator overnight at least, or until you are ready to use it.


On a side note...I wanted to do a large cake for this, but didn't want to buy a fancy pan. Instead, I lined a regular 9x13 with cooking spray and parchment paper. I was able to easily lift out my cakes. I made one white and one chocolate.


I placed both cakes on a piece of foam board from the craft store ($1) and used butter cream frosting to seal them together. I did a crumb coat, refrigerated and then applied my final coat of frosting. Set aside...


I used butter and gel colors to tint my fondant. I kneaded until the color was even (couldn't get a photo because my hands were a mess!!!!). Then place each color on a surface coated in powdered sugar.


Roll out to desired thickness. I used a sharp knife and cut all my shapes free form...except the 9 million hearts :) I used a mini cookie cutter for those.


Check out these bright colors! They came out just the way I was hoping. And note to self...don't start with red. My hands were pink for 2 days!

I adhered the cut-outs to the cake while the butter cream was still soft.

The finished product!!

And since I made this for Robyn's party and not her actual birthday, I needed to make a second treat for after dinner tonight!! I read about this in another blog, and it was perfect. To achieve the same consistency of a Great American Cookie Company Cookie, mix one tube of refrigerated cookie dough with 1/4 cup of karo syrup. Super healthy...I know! I'm all for homemade, but this is really yummy!


This makes enough for a 9 inch cake pan. Spray well and leave a little room around the edges for the cookie to expand.


I let the cookie cool and used my leftover butter cream and fondant to decorate. It was even easier to do a second time after I had learned to work with the fondant. I can't wait to use it again. What an amazing recipe :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Robyn!