Orange Poppyseed cake

In my house we have a ton of oranges. It's only fitting to make this whole orange poppyseed cake. Yes whole orange. Pretty cool huh? I got the recipe from the Sweet Mellisa baking book. She has so many great recipes. I have added it to my amazon store,  I get a small profit from sales from the store so check it out, along with any adds on my blog.  Ok enough promoting- Let them eat cake!


Whole Orange Poppyseed Cake:
adapted from Sweet Melissa's Baking book
1 whole orange, washed
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

for the glaze:
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar


Preheat the oven to 350* Lightly butter and flour a large bunt pan- I used 4 mini bunt pans. Cut the orange into medium chunks. In a food processor  or blender, pulse the orange pieces (skin and all!) and 1/2 cup of the sugar until pureed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, so that no large orange skin pieces in sight. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Stir in the orange pulp. whisk in the melted butter to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds to combine. Sprinkle over the orange mixture  gently fold until just combined. Pour the batter into the pans(s). Bake for 30 minutes, rotate and bake another 30 min. It all depends on the size of the pan. The cake is done when a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 20 min or so then invert the pans. TO make the glaze combine the orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a bowl and whisk till smooth it it's too thick add a little more juice, if too thin add more sugar.  Using a spoon drench the warm cake with glaze. Enjoy!

Papaya Pops

After making my Papaya Face Mask I had a good amount of papaya left over. Since papaya is yummy  frozen I decided on POPSICLES!!
I am obsessed with Popsicles!! I have collected quite a few molds from goodwill shopping. So this is my kick off to a Summer of Popsicles. I will have many more flavors, as the summer goes on!

Since I didn't know squat about papaya until I bought one, here is a great website that explains How to pick out a papaya.  

I like to make lots of different kinds of pops, so to keep them straight I label the end of each stick, that way I can store multiple kinds in the same bag.

 Papaya Pops!

3 1/2 cups  papaya cut up in 1 inch chunks

3/4 cup sugar

 1/4 cup lime juice

zest of 1 lime

Add everything into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. See that was easy!

Now divide into Popsicle molds, freeze for about and hour and add the sticks. Don't add the sticks right away because they will sink to the bottom. I always freeze my pops overnight before removing from the molds. To release from molds, just dip in warm water and pull out. Wrap the pops in wax paper or plastic wrap,then stack in a freezer bag. It's so much better then store bought pops!

Energy Bars

I came across this recipe when flipping through cookbooks at the library. Wow so great! This energy bar is full of protein and nutrients. The best part is you can add any kind of nuts and dried fruit. I kept it pretty traditional with raisins and almonds this time. Next time I plan to use figs and pecans.

Raisins, Oat, Almonds, Honey, Butter

Energy Bars:
Adapted from Green Market Baking Book
1/4 cup Salted Butter
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup Milk
1 TBS vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups oat flakes
1 cup chopped almonds
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 cup honey

Preheat the oven to 350*

Toasted Oats and Almonds

Spray the sides and bottom of a square baking dish.  Rehydrate the raisins in the milk and vanilla let sit till plump about 15 min.  Melt the butter in a large pan on medium heat, add the oats and almonds toss to toast for about 5 min-  make sure to keep stirring. Add the cinnamon and cook for 1 min longer. Pull off the heat.  Add the eggs and honey to raisin mixture, mix well, then add to the oat raisin mixture. Stir till evenly combined. Spread the mixture into the baking dish, and bake till golden brown and pulling away from the sides about 20 - 30 minutes. Cool before cutting. They will keep for 1 week. I know they won't last that long here!

D.I.Y. Garden Lables

This D.I.Y. is for all you wine drinking gardeners! I have been getting more corks since my post wine cork board. 

Corks and Forks!

 I got some forks from goodwill, and stuck corks on them. While making this I remembered a funny scene from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when Steve Martin is eating his dinner with a fork with a cork on it. Ha so funny! If you haven't seen it, look it up and watch. It's a classic!
 As you can see by the photos it's way cute.  I used forks of all sizes, and tried to find corks with some space to write clearly. Just write in pen and trace over it with a sharpie. Stick them in the ground and done! Happy drinking and gardening!

PB & J Pop Tarts

Some of the perks of working in a bakery I get to bring "scraps" home. Today I was fortunate enough to bring a huge chunk of pie dough home with me. Our dough is amazing- since I can't give you the recipe I will send you to a site that has a great comparable recipe. The best part of the dough is it is all butter! No shortening-Yay! So what to do with a giant chunk of pie dough? Make POP TARTS!! The filling combinations are endless. I stayed simple with homemade strawberry-blackberry Jam. Then a few PB&J since my boys L-O-V-E peanut butter! I just bit into one and Holy Cow! AMAZING!!  Flaky, crunchy fruit filled pillows, how can anyone resist?  The best part is that they can be frozen before baking so you don't have to be tempted to eat all of them as they come out of the oven. As I am typing this I have already had 2 1/2. I must stop and save some for the boys! The only healthy thing about this that there is a tiny bit of fruit. Otherwise this is a buttery- sugary treat. It looks like all you really need is a ton of tools, don't be intimidated. A pastry cutter is optional, it just makes the edges really cute. If you don't have access to a pastry brush using a paper towel works alright. No pizza cutter? well then use a knife, a pizza cutter makes it quicker. No rolling Pin? use a wine bottle -full or empty works in a pinch but trust me kinda a pain in the butt. I like the look of crystal sugar on top it seems to pull everything together, it's not super easy to find but not impossible either. I hope you love this as much as I have!

Tools:
Pizza cutter, pastry brush, pastry cutter, ruler, rolling pin

PB&J- Pop Tarts
Preheat oven 375*

-Bon Appetit Pie dough recipe

Peanut Butter- Smooth or Chunky

Jam- homemade or store bought

1 egg

crystal sugar

rolling pin

fork

pastry brush

ruler

pizza cutter

pastry cutter (optional)

Ready to roll- Only in small batches, it's good not to overwork the dough. Dust the counter with a little flour to prevent the dough sticking to the table. 

Roll the pie dough out pretty thin then using  a ruler and pizza cutter to make the same size pieces, I made my first set rectangle, and second set square. (3X3 or 3X4) Then spread filling in the middle avoiding the sides so they can be sealed. I was informed that it could have some more filling. Peanut butter is thicker so I used more in those ones. Only put filling on 1/2 the squares, leave the others empty to use as the tops.

Make a egg wash by beating the egg in bowl with fork and adding a 1tsp of water. Then using the pastry brush; brush the sides of the dough that has the filling. To assemble: place empty dough square over the top and press the sides down with fingers to seal in the filling. (If you don't do this it will result in the filling leaking out the sides!) To make the sides pretty: take the fork prongs and press along the sides this will give the crinkle look. At this point you can leave it - or use the pastry cutter and that makes the sides even cuter! P.S I only have one because I found it at the thrift store for .50 cents.

Place on sheet pan with parchment paper: If no parchment just spray the sheet pan.  I pricked the top with the fork to make the indents over the filling.  Place in the fridge for 10-15 to chill the dough down before baking- Or at this point you can freeze them to bake later!. Before baking brush with the egg wash from before, and sprinkle with crystal sugar- optional. Bake for 7 min then check and turn sheet pan, and then another 7 min or so. It all depends on the size they are. Lets say just bake till golden brown.

Once they come out of the oven let cool for 8-10 min- Trust me Molten hot berry jam is NOT good for the roof of your mouth! Once completely cool store in airtight container for 3-5 days. I don't recommend putting in the toaster, looking at the picture you can see that some of the jam oozed out, not a good idea for the toaster. 

Meaty Tomato Pasta

Spring has sprung and it has been busy in my house. I notice I haven't written a new post for almost 2 months. I have been half writing posts. Now I plan to finish.
This post is about my throw together dinner that is my go to at least once a week. It is healthy and easy! So many different combinations can be put into this dish. It's just whatever I have on hand. Alright here we go Baked Meaty Tomato Pasta!
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 TBS diced garlic
 1/2 Yellow onion diced
15oz can of Tomato Sauce
 16- 20oz Meat-- this can vary*
 1/4 cup pured squash, sweet potatoes or carrots etc.- OPTIONAL
1 tsp dried Basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried dill weed
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 pound whole wheat pasta or gluten free pasta
8 oz  Shredded Italian Cheese- this can vary**

optional add ins - 1 cup of corn kernels, 1 /12 cups Garbanzo beans,  Use rice instead of Pasta!
* Meat-I use Italian sausage links the most, brown them up then slice. But using ground beef, turkey, chicken is great too. Really any kind of meat that is available.
** Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano-  in a pinch I have used cheddar.

In a 4 quart pot start boiling water for the pasta, add a pinch of salt. Once the water starts to boil add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions.

before adding the cheese and baking!

 Meanwhile in heavy roasting pan cook your meat. Once it is done cooking, drain the fat- if any and set aside. In the same pan add the Olive Oil and saute with the onion and garlic till translucent.  If the meat needs to be sliced slice it now and add to the onion garlic mix. Time to add the spices, tomato sauce,  and pured veggies. By this time the pasta should be done cooking. drain but SAVE some of the cooking water! Add the pasta directly to the tomato mixture, toss all together. At this point look and see if the sauce looks a little dry, that is when I like to add some of the pasta water to thin it out. After everything looks combined sprinkle the top with the cheese and turn the oven to broil- (my saute pans are all metal if yours have a plastic handle I suggest you transfer the pasta to a baking dish then sprinkle with cheese) Toss the whole thing in the oven to brown the cheese up for about 3-5 minutes. Pull from the oven let sit a few minutes before eating. So quick and easy, the best part just use up what is in the pantry and fridge.


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On the roller derby news front my team has a game coming up on May 19th. If anyone is in the Everett, Washington area you should come on by for a good fun game! Check out my team's website for all the details. http://www.tacokickers.com/.

Wine cork board

 I drink wine, and as most of you know I like to collect useless crap in hopes of doing great things with it. I have started collecting wine corks, and getting  friends to save them for me too. My plan is to make a wine cork board for my kitchen, then onto trivets, and then who knows what.

design #1

Yesterday at the thrift store I found the jackpot of all jackpots! A huge bag full of corks. I know what you are thinking. I didn't drink all that wine, but lets be real I wasn't going to get out without becoming a wino. I was thinking it was going to take at least a year to gather up all the corks, lucky for me I have a lot of friends who drink wine.
 Nowadays buying a bottle of wine will not guarantee you a cork- I read someplace it's something of 9% of wine bottles are closed with  plastic stoppers or even screw tops. Now this messes with my project, the look of plastic "corks" are just not the same.
 I found a frame at goodwill for $2.99 it's Medium sized. I could have done a huge one but really don't have the patience for one that big.

you will need:
25-200 corks depends on the size of frame and design
picture frame without the glass
glue gun with glue sticks
newspaper

design #2

I have been researching designs, so many possibilities. No idea how many times I have placed the corks in the frame, just to take them all out again. With the timeless saying "measure twice, cut once" repeating in the back of my head.  In this case "place twice, glue once!" I have it down to 2 designs. Design 1 is with the corks lying on the sides with labels showing, this way it uses up less cork. Design 2 is with the corks standing up showing the wine stain, this adds some character. But uses up 3-4x more corks then the first one.  Right after taking the photos my little walking disaster decided to help me and picked up the frame. Corks all over my living room, a toddler's dream!
 I have yet to decide what design to do. So please let me know which design you like better in the comment section. I am still waiting to glue. I will update once I decide on a pattern, and show the finished product.