Seasoned Catfish

Scott and I had decided to stock up on all sorts of seafood and meats from Costco. Definitely the best way to go. You get your money's worth per pound of meat/seafood. Plus, who doesn't like shopping in bulk??? I will typically stock up then portion and freeze as necessary. Each Costco shopping spree lasts a couple months. We decided to season up and pan fry some catfish and serve it with sauteed fresh vegetables and rice.

We seasoned the catfish with some salt and pepper then dredged the fish in a seasoned flour and cornmeal mixture. In the mixture was: flour, cornmeal, pepper, paprika, Cheyenne pepper, and parsley flakes. We sprayed the fish with a little bit of PAM then baked in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. I believe the temperature was 400 F.

While the catfish was baking we sauteed up some freshly cut vegetables in a mixture of vegetable oil and sesame oil. We seasoned the veggies with salt/pepper and lightly sprinkled them with sesame seeds.

Pizza Dough I

Recipe Courtesy of Gudny Bjorg Kjaerbo from allrecipes.com

I wanted to to start making my own pizza at home so found this recipe and gave it a shot. It turned out ok, nothing crazy. I think the dough could be a bit sweeter. Next time I will check out another recipe. I usually bake all my pizzas on my awesome pizza stone. You'll never get a soggy crust!
I went ahead and added all the water, honey/sugar and yeast in my kitchen aid mixer bowl and let that sit for about 10 minutes. I mixed all dry ingredients in another bowl and gradually added them to the wet using my dough hook. I let my kitchen aid knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar (or honey)
• 1 cup warm water
  

Directions:

1. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan. Top as desired.
2. Bake at 375 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Recipe Courtesy of SOMEONESWT from allrecipes.com

This recipe turned out o.k. The pumpkin flavor was a bit overwhelming and made the chili consistency funky. In addition to the recipe, I added: corn, kidney beans, and pinto beans.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 (14.5 oz can) diced tomatoes
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• dash salt
• cheese, sour cream, and chives for toppings

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Seasoned Pork Chops

I can't remember when I made this, but I didn't use any recipe. I'll typically season any meats I have with whatever seasonings I have on hand. Nothing special, and nothing too crazy. I served this pork chop with my garlic mashed potatoes and canned corn :)

I think I seasoned the pork with:

• Salt
• Freshly grated pepper
• Thyme
• Rosemary
  

Limited Edition: Coconut Flavored M&M's

One word to describe these: YUM! Scott found these a little while back at the Chevron near my house. I have gotten a few packs since then, but have not been able to find these anywhere else. These are about the same size as Peanut M&M's. The chocolate center has a nice coconut flavor without any coconut bits. These are definitely worth buying and worth snacking on if you can get your hands on them. I hope their limited edition status changes to a permanent one.

Tiger Cupcakes

I have decided that it would be fun to create birthday cupcakes in the shape of a favorite animal for coworkers. These were for my friend Alex who requested tigers.

Ingredients:

• One box cake mix
• Orange, pink, and black food coloring
• Butter cream frosting (store bough or homemade) - I make my own
  
• Mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Prepare cupcakes as directed by boxed cake mix. Allow cakes to cool.
2. In small bowls, color portions of butter cream in orange, pink and black. You'll need mostly orange.
   
3. Frost each cupcake with orange colored frosting.
4. Use the corner of a small ziplock back as a piping bag to create ears, a nose, whiskers and stripes.
5. For the eyes: cut mini marshmallows in half, and place a small drop of black butter cream on top.
   

Strawberries in Spiced Syrup

Recipe Courtesy of LFRAME29 on allrecipes.com

I had vanilla ice cream, and I had a bunch of strawberries. I didn't want just plain strawberries on my plain vanilla ice cream, so I found a recipe to spice them up! Serve these warm fresh spiced strawberries over your favorite ice cream and you'll surely be pleased.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 pints strawberries, cleaned, hulled and sliced

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, stir together the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until it becomes syrupy. Mix in the nutmeg and cinnamon, and remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then pour over sliced strawberries.

Froggy Cupcakes

I've been trying to find ways to liven up the usual boring cupcake, so I did some internet searching and have seen several pictures and ideas! I made these on a whim and they turned out awesome.

Ingredients:

• One box cake mix
• Butter cream Frosting (store bought, or make your own) - I make my own.
  
• Large Marshmallows
• Chocolate Chips
• Green sugar sprinkles
• Green Food Coloring
• I used blue frosting for the lips, but you can also use the thin red licorice candy.

Directions:

1. Make the cupcakes according to the boxed cake mix. Allow them to cool.
2. Frost each cupcake with green food colored butter cream frosting.
3. To make the eyes: Cut large marshmallows in half, dip curved side in water, then dip into green sugar sprinkles. Take one chocolate chip and place on marshmallow using a little bit of frosting as glue.
4. The mouth can be either a small piece of thin red licorice candy or colored butter cream frosting.
   

Vanilla Ice Cream

I have had my Kitchen Aid ice cream bowl attachment for years now, and this is probably the 3rd time I've ever used it. I really need to use it more often, as it produces some lovely ice cream. We used a standard vanilla ice cream recipe and spiced up our "portions" with toppings of our choice. I went ahead and added caramel sauce, Reese's peanut butter cups and brownie bits in mine; Scott added chocolate fudge sauce, caramel sauce, and peanut butter in his. Both combination's were really good, but extremely sweet. Next time I'll cut back on the caramel and perhaps just use it as a topping after scooping the ice cream.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups half and half
• 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a heavy saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon and reaches at least 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat; cool quickly by setting pan in ice and stirring the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. When ready to freeze, pour custard and vanilla into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer or kitchen aid ice cream bowl.
   

Snow Ice Cream

After Seattle had gotten several inches of snow back in December of 2008, I decided that I wanted to do something with it! What better thing to make with freshly fallen snow than ICE CREAM! I found a few recipes and put together something of my own.

Ingredients:

• About 6-8 cups of snow
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, combine vanilla, sugar, and evaporated milk.
2. Gradually add snow until mixture reaches desired consistency.
   

Irish Soda Bread

Recipe Courtesy of MP Welty on allrecipes.com

I had never made nor eaten Irish soda bread until I made this recipe so I did not know what to expect. I actually had Irish soda bread this last March for the first time after making this recipe. I was pleasantly surprised that this recipe tasted a lot like what I had eaten at this Irish pub.

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Recipe Courtesy of Lisa Keft on allrecipes.com

I'm not a big banana bread person (I prefer zucchini bread), but these were pretty tasty. They were like moist banana bread, in muffin form, with a nice brown sugar crumb topping. These were awesome straight out of the oven with a pat of butter.

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Sweet Corn Bread

Recipe Courtesy of Virginia Hanker on allrecipes.com

These turned out wonderful! Extremely moist and very sweet! These would be best served with any BBQ, soup or stew! Or as a dinner roll substitute. I made these in Oklahoma and didn't have a whole lot of baking pans so I ended up using an over sized muffin tin for this recipe.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal (I used white corn meal)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the egg, sour cream, milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Peppy's Pita Bread

Recipe Courtesy of Sandy on allrecipes.com

These turned out pretty good. I've only made these once, and it was while I was living in Oklahoma. I have not made these since moving back to Washington. I know they will turn out differently as the weather is very different. Next time I will roll out the dough a bit thinner in order to allow for a much bigger "pocket." These would definitely make for a great light sandwich bread.

• 1 1/8 cups luke warm water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

Directions:

1. Place luke warm water, sugar, vegetable oil and yeast into Kitchen Aid mixing bowl. Allow to rest for approximately 10 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
3. Using the dough hook attachment, gradually add dry ingredients into wet. Allow machine to knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
   
4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

French Baguettes

Recipe Courtesy of Judy Taubert on allrecipes.com

WOW, is all I have to say about this recipe! These turned out awesome and were extremely tasty! Obviously best served fresh out of the oven with a little bit of butter. I have made this recipe several of times and highly recommend it to anyone. The original recipe was made for a bread machine (which I used the first time I made this), but because I do not own a bread machine I've modified the recipe slightly for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

• 1 cup water, luke warm
  
• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar (I used honey)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. Place one cup luke warm water, sugar/honey, and yeast in Kitchen Aid mixing bowl. Let rest approximately 10 minutes.
2. While yeast is activating, combine flour and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. While using the Kitchen Aid bread hook attachment, gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet. Allow the stand mixer to knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Once kneaded, place into lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about 30 minutes.
4. Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8 x 12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pushing out air any bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches. Cover, let rise in a warm place about 30-40 minutes.
5. Mix egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water, brush over tops of loaves.
6. Bake in a preheated oven (375 degrees) for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.