Parties

SRC: Cranberry Tart

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

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Good morning and welcome to another edition of The Secret Recipe Club. For a little “behind the scenes” information, The Secret Recipe Club (SRC) is divided into four group. Each group posts on a different Monday of the month. I am in Group D and always post on the 4th Monday of the month. This means that those special months with five Mondays there’s a week without any fun reveal day! That is all about to change, beginning with today. On the 5th Monday of the month there will now be a themed reveal and it’s a “free for all,” which means that there aren’t any group restrictions. I’m looking forward to getting to know some of the other bloggers in the club.

With Thanksgiving behind us it’s time to set our eyes on the holidays and that’s why our themed reveal this month is Holiday Treats. My assignment this month comes from Group A, Anna over at BCMom’s Kitchen. Anna views recipes as “suggestions,” something I’d always had a problem doing. As I’ve been blogging and cooking I’ve become more accustomed to this line of thought and can comfortably change recipes to suit the ingredients in my pantry (and budget).

Given the theme for the month I immediately went to Anna’s “sweets” index and searched with the holiday frame of mind. I found myself being pulled to anything and everything cranberry! Apple Cranberry Crisp, Cranberry Tart, and although not a dessert, Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip.

We had this “tart” for our Thanksgiving dessert. My Thanksgiving menu this year was a little unconventional because we had a small group (just us and my in-laws). Instead of turkey we had pork roasts, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, and green bean casserole. We had my Award Winning Chili on Saturday so we did get some turkey during the holiday weekend.

I chose the cranberry tart, but found it difficult to call this dessert a tart. I struggled with how to categorize it though. It’s not quite a tart because there isn’t a crust topped with a filling. It’s almost a pie with a crust going on top of the filling, but it’s not a crust, it’s a batter. It’s probably most like an upside down cake, but I didn’t photograph it upside down – I had to take the pictures Wednesday, before we ate it, while there was light. There was no way I’d risk turning the “tart” upside down in case it didn’t work that way. I’ve decided to call it a “pie cake.” Whatever you call it, it’s delicious – a perfect blend of sweet and tart with some texture.

I found this dessert best served warm alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cranberry Tart

Ingredients:

  • 2 C fresh (or frozen) cranberries
  • 1/2 C chopped pecans
  • 1 1/2 C sugar, divided use
  • 1 C flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp almond extract

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ pie pan.
  2. Place cranberries, pecans, and 1/2 C sugar in the pie pan.
  3. In a bowl mix the flour, remaining sugar, melted butter, eggs, and extract. Pour over the cranberries.
  4. Bake 40-45 minutes until the tart has risen slightly, is set, and lightly golden.

*This recipe is adapted from Anna at http://recipes.alwaysbcmom.com/2011/06/cranberry-tart.html*

Cranberry Tart for #SRCHolidayTreats from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in the themed Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

Thankful for Friends and Bloggers

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Last month my wonderful friend Tara of Tara’s Multicultural Table threw me a surprise virtual baby shower for my baby boy. The theme behind this blogging event was Thanksgiving.

Lauren-Shower

With a Fall baby, I couldn’t have picked a more perfect theme. Especially when Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I definitely have so much to be thankful for this year.

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Tara gathered together a wonderful group of bloggers willing to share a Thanksgiving recipe in honor of my baby boy.

Thank you again to all of the bloggers who came to my shower and a huge thank you to Tara for hosting. I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love.

Homemade Candy Corn

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

I conclude my Halloween candy week with a non-chocolate holiday favorite: candy corn!

This candy endeavor is the first one that’s actually a candy – aka it involves boiling sugar. Yikes!

I had to make two attempts at this one, but I’m glad I didn’t give up because I feel quite accomplished having made homemade candy corn! In my opinion this candy tastes much better than the packaged kind. It lacks that “honey” flavor and artificial after taste. I’m not an expert in candy making but I’d imagine you could add a little honey to the corn syrup mixture if you want that taste? Maybe?

After attempt one I decided to do a little more research and found a post on The Kitchn that went into the chemistry of candy making and how to know what went wrong. (In my case, I over cooked the sugar/syrup mix.) The ingredient list was the same (but halved) so I was content to give it another go. Attempt two involved sifting the powdered sugar mixture – I do not recommend skipping this step as it mixed into the syrup mixture much easier. Attempt two also went off of sugar temperature and not time. I think that’s the real key to candy making – if you don’t have a candy thermometer, I wouldn’t recommend attempting this recipe. Another difference was spreading the candy mixture out onto a baking sheet to cool – doing this ensured even cooling of the candy and easy division into three batches.

To be a little “different” I decided to make purple and green candy corn instead of the classic orange and yellow. I just love the addition of
purple and green to the classic Halloween colors – it feels more “wicked.” But honestly, you could do any color combination you want – perfect for tailgates, birthdays, and other holidays.

IMG_6566I only made 3/4 of the batch of candy corn, sacrificing the remaining quarter to the little boy who climbed up into my lap while I was cutting my triangles. Even still, I managed to fill three 4.25 oz jars with homemade candy corn. (I knew I saved those baby food jars for something!)

Homemade Candy Corn

Ingredients:

  • 1 C powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp powdered milk
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/3 C corn syrup
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • food coloring

Steps:

  1. Sift together powdered sugar, powdered milk, and salt. Set aside.
  2. Place butter, corn syrup, and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until butter has melted, stirring gently a couple of times. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer measures 245 – 250 degrees F. Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla extract.
  3. Working quickly, mix the powdered sugar mixture into the syrup mixture (I found this easy to do in batches) until smooth and fully incorporated.
  4. Spread mixture onto a lightly greased baking sheet (or use a silipat mat if you have one). Allow mixture to cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Do not wait too long or the candy will become too hard to deal with, if this happens microwave the candy for 5 seconds to soften, if that doesn’t work you may need to start over. Note: For “trouble-shooting” please see the original recipe linked below.
  5. Cut the candy into thirds and knead desired food coloring into each batch. Like you would with Play-doh, create ropes from the candy. To make it easier to work with I created 4 ropes from each color. Again, microwave the candy as needed to work with easily.
  6. Line one of each color rope next to each other, press together, and flatten with a rolling pin. Cut triangles out of the trio-rope. Repeat until all candy is used up.
  7. Allow candy corn to harden at least one hour. Keep in an airtight container for several weeks – until the candy simply becomes too dry to enjoy.

*This recipe is adapted from Emma at http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-candy-corn-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-99717*

Homemade Candy Corn | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Homemade “Kit Kat Bars”

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Before I get into today’s recipe I feel compelled to explain why I put “Kit Kat Bars” in quotations. It’s for the same reason these don’t get the tag “Copy Cat.” The Kit Kat you buy in the red wrapper does not contain nuts, this homemade version gets its goodness from Nutella. But seriously, have you ever actually smelled Nutella? And have you ever smelled a Kit Kat? Samesies!

There are a lot of “copy cat” Kit Kat recipes out on Pinterest that use a wafer cookie for the filling. This recipe uses Nutella and crushed corn flakes to get that wafer effect and it’s delicious! We could just eat that filling and forget about the chocolate. I would suggest using whatever chocolate quality you prefer, I used bittersweet chocolate.

Stuart pointed out that this recipe would work much better as truffles, forming that filling into balls and then dipping into the chocolate as my chocolate to filling ratio was way off. (User error though – I’m sure the recipe is fine.) Another option would be to make half the chocolate and spread that out, let it set, then make the filling, and top it off with the rest of the chocolate for a more traditional “sandwiched” Kit Kat Bar.

Much like the Reese’s Cups from yesterday, these melt so are best kept in the fridge. And they actually taste better the next day(s)! My husband has banned me from making them again, because you open the fridge, you see a tray of Kit Kat Bars staring at you, so naturally you have to take one. Happy Halloween, right?

Homemade “Kit Kat Bars”

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (a scant 1/4 C)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 3/4 C Nutella
  • 2 C crushed corn flakes (3-4 C whole)
  • 12 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken
  • 1 3/4 C heavy cream

Steps:

  1. Melt chocolate chips and 1 tbsp butter over a double boiler. Remove from heat and mix in the Nutella. Allow the mixture to cool slightly before stirring in the corn flakes. Spread mixture onto a 9×13″ baking sheet. Set in the fridge.
  2. Melt chocolate into heavy cream over a double boiler. Pour over Kit Kat Bar filling. Set in fridge until firm. Cut into bars.

*This recipe is adapted from Balaboosta by Einat Admony*

Homemade Kit Kat Bars | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Copy Cat: Reese’s Cups

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

I can’t have a candy week without including the most popular piece of candy – Reese’s.

That chocolate and peanut butter combination has become a winning recipe in everything from cakes to ice cream.

Reese’s has been one of those candies I thought would be easiest to make as there isn’t any boiling of sugar involved. I couldn’t have been more right! Although slightly tedious, this was a chocolate product I managed to do without supervision.

I had enough chocolate to make 24 Reese’s cups – thank heavens for the invention of the spatula because I scraped that bowl clean to cover that final piece of candy. I had enough peanut butter to make probably 10-15 more chocolate peanut butter cups. (I saved that peanut butter filling for mixing into brownie batter – because, why not!?)

I was quite nervous that despite spraying them I wouldn’t be able to pull the candies out of the cupcake liners. I had nothing to fear and these tasted just like the real thing- maybe better!

Without the added chemistry type ingredients, these babies melt fairly quickly, so I suggest storing them in the fridge.

Copy Cat: Reese’s Cups

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag (11.5 oz) milk chocolate chips (you could use dark or white chocolate if you prefer)
  • 1 jar (10 oz) creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 C + 2 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp melted butter

Steps:

  1. Line a mini muffin tray with mini cupcake liners. Lightly spray with cooking spray.
  2. Melt chocolate over a double boiler.
  3. Spoon chocolate into liners and spread it up the sides. Place tray in the fridge for 10 minutes.
  4. In a large bowl mix peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter with a hand mixer until smooth. Place in a piping bag. Pipe peanut butter mixture into chocolate lined cups. Flatten with spoon or finger.
  5. Top peanut butter filled cups with remaining melted chocolate.
  6. Chill at least 1 hour.

*This recipe is adapted from Jillee at http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/04/homemade-reeses-peanut-butter-cups.html

Copy Cat: Reese's Cups | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Copy Cat: Snickers

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

It’s Halloween week and that means I’ve got a theme. My very first Halloween blogging I did a week of Candy Corn inspired recipes and posts, including a pillow cover and pizza. The following year ghosts hit the scene so pancakes and cookies were created in adorable ghostly shapes.

I toyed with the idea of mummies, Frankenstein’s monster, or pumpkins this year but the opportunity to make candy couldn’t be surpassed. It was time to face my chocolate and sugar fears and try making trick-or-treat favorites at home. For the these 4 days I’ll be sharing some sweet treats all made from scratch!

To kick off “candy week” I am sharing a Copy Cat recipe for Snickers! And it was much easier than I ever thought it would be. I was definitely doing a happy dance after taking my first bite of homemade candy bar. It actually tastes like the real thing! I was nervous that the amount of chocolate looked too thin, but the ratios of chocolate to nougat and caramel is perfect!

This recipe makes a 9×13″ pan of layered goodness. That’s a cake’s worth of candy bars people! I hope you have friends to share these with. Throughout my weeks of candy making I’ve realized that homemade chocolate candy bars melt/soften fairly quickly and are best kept in the fridge. Keep that in mind if you plan on gifting some homemade candy – don’t leave it on someone’s doorstep… unless there’s a lot of snow and cold to keep the candy from turning into a delicious mess.

Copy Cat: Snickers

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 C milk chocolate chips, divided use
  • 3/4 C creamy peanut butter, divided use
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1/4 C evaporated milk
  • 1 container (13 oz) marshmallow creme
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 C roughly chopped salted peanuts
  • 14 oz caramel squares, unwrapped
  • 1/4 C heavy cream

Steps:

  1. Line a 9×13″ cake pan with foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In a microwave safe bowl, combine 1 1/4 C chocolate chips and 1/4 C peanut butter. Microwave 50-60 seconds, stirring every 20 seconds, or until completely melted and smooth. Evenly spread mixture into prepared cake pan. Place in fridge.
  3. In a large saucepan over medium heat melt butter. Add the sugar and evaporated milk. Stir and bring to a gentle boil. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the mixture from burning. Add in the marshmallow creme, 1/4 C peanut butter, and the vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and fold in the chopped peanuts. Evenly spread the nougat over the chocolate layer. Return to fridge.
  4. In a microwave safe bowl, combine caramels and heavy cream. Microwave 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, or until completely melted and smooth. Evenly spread caramel over the nougat layer. Return to fridge.
  5. In a microwave safe bowl, combine 1 1/4 C chocolate chips and 1/4 C peanut butter. Microwave 50-60 seconds, stirring every 20 seconds, or until completely melted and smooth. Evenly spread mixture over the caramel layer.
  6. Return to fridge and chill until completely set. Cut into bars.

*This recipe is adapted from Alyssa at http://therecipecritic.com/2013/11/homemade-snickers-bars/*

Copy Cat Snickers | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Tuesday Tattles: 1st Birthday

~ lk529 ~ 9 Comments

Tuesday Tattles

It’s been quite some time since my last Tuesday Tattles post, and today’s is a very special edition.

My little man is now ONE!

Today I will share with you the planning (and execution) of his birthday party. I will post another Tuesday Tattles next week documenting our favorite products to date.

IMG_4645Before I get into the decorative and food details, I need to give a HUGE thank you to my parents for allowing us to have his party at their summer home in Wisconsin. (I spent my childhood Fourth of Julys there when it was my grandparents’ home and I knew that living in Ohio we’d be close enough to spend the holiday weekend there once again.  It just so happened that the little man shares his birthday weekend with America.) And another huge thank you to my in-laws for agreeing to travel from Alabama for the little man’s first birthday.

Being surrounded by family, the invite list grew and grew and this birthday party became bigger than I envisioned for a first birthday. Thankfully the weather was perfect and our outdoor gathering was a wonderful reunion. I think my favorite part about the party was that my cousins’ kids, ranging from ages 3 – 17, absolutely loved my son – and better yet, my son loved them! I was amazed that my son could understand the concept of play and his newly found skill at walking came in handy while he chased around the older kids.

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When my son was born the day before the Fourth I knew immediately that his first birthday would be Captain America themed! I had been pinning ideas for a whole year and could not be more thrilled with how successful his party turned out.

I couldn’t find any pre-made party decor that was only Captain America since the latest movie that was released was the Avengers. So we resorted to using red, white, and blue. I added pops of yellow to break up the monotony and keep it “comic-book-y”.

  • I alternated red and white plates alongside alternating white and blue napkins. Blue dessert plates were used alongside red napkins.
  • I cut stars out of white sticker paper with the help of a friend’s Silhouette Curio Cutting Tool, and placed them on blue cups.
  • Two 16″ Patriotic Orbz Balloons were paired with yellow balloons and placed on either side of the food table.
  • White stars were cut out from paper and I hand wrote the food labels in red or blue to be placed next to each dish.
  • Star balloons flanked with blue balloons decorated the front step, and one star balloon added sparkle to the adult beverage table. (The latter would have been joined by a red balloon had there been any helium left!)
  • The party favor bags were simple paper bags in red and blue which I then decorated. The red ones received stars and vertical stripes, to mimic Captain America’s uniform. The blue ones received stars surrounded by a white circle, to mimic the shield. Sticker paper came to the rescue with this project, too! I sealed the bags with a “Thank You” sticker.
    • Inside the bags were two glow sticks (red, white, or blue), a squirt gun, small frisbee, bubbles, and some candy. The extras were offered beside the bags for any older “kids” who might want to play.
  • The high chair, where the little man would have his slice of cake, was decorated with a giant blue number 1 and two red balloons. On the front of the high chair tray I created a banner consisting of his name book-ended by two Captain America shields.
  • My biggest project was creating the big “Happy Birthday” banner. It ended up being displayed behind the goodie bags inside.

Captain America Themed First Birthday | Sew You Think You Can Cook

I found inspiration for both banners on Pinterest.

  • For the highchair banner I used the shape tool in Microsoft Word for the pentagon template at 2.9″x 5″. The font used is Simplified Arabic Fixed. I placed my son’s name in WordArt at font size 96 then sized the WordArt graphic to be 3.08″ x 8.03″ and then selected Rotate Flip Horizontal so that the text would be backwards. Everything was printed on cardstock and cut out using a craft knife. I used small glue dots to adhere the letters to the pentagon. I then cut the red and white cardstock to fit and glued those in place on top of the pentagon.IMG_5639
  • For the “Happy Birthday” banner I used this template and printed on red and blue cardstock. The letters used the same font as the previous banner and followed the same method. Only three letters at a time at font size 96 were placed in a WordArt graphic. The graphics were formatted to 3.67″ x 8.75″. A grey cardstock was used for “first” and placed on the red flags while a lighter blue was placed on the blue flags.
  • To create the Captain America shields I borrowed an incredible circle cutting tool from a friend, a circle punch, and a star punch. It took a lot of trial and error on scrap paper to figure out which sizes worked best. (The highchair shields were much larger than the birthday banner ones.)

Captain America Birthday Party (food) | Sew You Think You Can Cook

And now for the important part of the party: The Food!

  • The main course was broasted chicken from a local favorite chicken place along with their cole slaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cinnamon rolls.
  • Because they’re my husband’s favorite, I doubled my recipe for Cherry Chipotle Baked Beans – and there wasn’t any left! Doubling the recipe requires double the time so I made them Wednesday and reheated them before setting the slow cooker on low on the food table.
  • The dish I’m surprised to say got the most reviews was my Buffalo Macaroni Salad! I tripled the amount of pasta, eyeballed the veggies, and doubled the dressing (however, I only halved the original amount of chili powder as the pasta salad only gets spicier the longer it sits). There was still dressing leftover and would be perfect for chopping up the leftover broasted chicken and creating a chicken salad.
  • My mother-in-law made a 7-layer dip (which was devoured in under an hour) which I decorated using tomatoes and chopped black olives. To create the star in the center I placed a star shaped piece of paper in the center of the dip and traced around it with the olives. The key to getting that star to be recognizable is really concentrating the olives.
  • To make a shield fruit tray I chose strawberries, blueberries, and mini marshmallows. I found a star shaped bowl at my favorite thrift store which was filled with a cream cheese and marshmallow dip (1 block of cream cheese + 1 jar of marshmallow creme). My mom didn’t have a platter large enough so we got a cheap 16″ pizza tray! 3 pints of strawberries, half a bag of mini marshmallows, an entire recipe of dip, and at least of pint of blueberries were demolished by happy party goers.
  • And of course the cake – a marble cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese icing, decorated to look like Captain America’s shield. My little man was very hesitant when it came to the cake but once my mom fed him a bite his interest was piqued. (My husband put that bit of frosting on his nose.) Fun fact: red frosting dyes hands and faces! It did wash out of his Captain America onesie just fine, though.

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Chocolate Covered Strawberry Waffles

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I have been eyeing one of Tara‘s recipes ever since she posted it; I actually almost made them for #SundaySupper last week. When she posted this recipe for Strawberry Waffles I had JUST polished off a container of strawberries. But honestly, it’s very rare that we get through the entire carton before the strawberries start to go bad (unless I clean, chop, and put them in a container in the fridge when I get home from the grocery store… which is a rare occurrence). So I knew that next time I had strawberries that were starting to go I’d puree them up and make Tara’s waffles.

Turns out the next strawberries I had in my fridge were those from my Mother’s Day Edible Arrangement! So, instead of strawberry waffles, I had chocolate covered strawberry waffles! (I almost sat on this recipe until Valentine’s Day but I just couldn’t wait!)

imageI’ve always wanted an Edible Arrangement, I just thought they were so fun! It’s been over 5 years of me wanting one and in those 5 years I developed an allergy to melon. I thought my chances of getting an Edible Arrangement were history. But – they had one with pineapple, strawberries, and grapes. Perfect! These arrangements are HUGE though! Or at least this one was. I knew we couldn’t make it through all of that fruit before it went bad, so some of those strawberries were transformed into waffles. Win-win.

I halved the recipe because I wasn’t anywhere close to 2 C of pureed strawberries. As is I had to supplement some of the puree for milk. This amount of batter was perfect for just me – it made 5 waffles, which I enjoyed over the course of two days.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 very large chocolate covered strawberries
  • 1/4 C milk (if needed)
  • 1 tbsp agave
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 C flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Steps:

  1. Place strawberries in a blender and puree. If you have less than 1 C of puree use milk to reach 1 C of total liquid.
  2. In a bowl whisk eggs. Add the strawberry/milk mixture and the agave.
  3. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Pour batter into a hot waffle iron and cook until golden. Serve with whipped cream.

*This recipe is adapted from Tara at http://www.tarasmulticulturaltable.com/strawberry-waffles/*

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Waffles Sew You Think You Can Cook

#SundaySupper: Picnic

~ lk529 ~ 19 Comments

Picnics. Now there’s a word that means something different to everyone. You might not have thought that before, but think about it.

Do you think of a romantic meal for two on a blanket in a meadow? Maybe sandwiches on the beach? A backpack meal on a hike?

For me, picnic is almost synonymous with family reunion.

Every year my dad’s family has a huge reunion in July. My grandparents came to America from the Dominican Republic along with many cousins from their generation. We rent out a park space and everyone comes together. Much of the family is still in the Chicago area so that’s where we all convene. Growing up we would always travel back to spend the Fourth of July at my mom’s parents lake house in Lake Geneva, WI and spend time with my dad’s parents in Illinois, ending our vacation with the family picnic.

Everyone is assigned a category of food to bring based on last name. Except for my aunt – she’s required to bring her 7 layer dip. And my mom used to be “the candy lady” – she’d buy huge bags of candy (and those giant pixie sticks) and all the kids would love her for it. All the kids are grown up now so she still brings a little something but it’s definitely not to the scale she did when we were younger.

It’s a wonderful gathering of family and I hope to make it this year! Now that I’m an E last name I think I’m supposed to bring veggies instead of salad. Maybe I’ll find some great ideas from the rest of my Sunday Supper family.

A big thank you to T.R. of Gluten Free Crumbley for hosting this event. For more fun picnic ideas scroll past my recipe!

When I think picnic food I think hotdogs and macaroni salad. Stuart doesn’t like macaroni salad so I thought I’d try something new to tempt him. We were having people over for grilling and this spicy version was a huge hit! I used veggies typically served with buffalo wings – celery and carrots – and added tomato to cool it down a bit. Be warned: this macaroni salad gets spicier the longer it sits!

Buffalo Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 C uncooked macaroni noodles
  • 1/4 C finely diced red onion
  • 1/4 C finely diced celery
  • 1/2 C finely diced carrot
  • 3/4 C diced tomato
  • 3/4 C mayonnaise
  • 1/4 C buffalo sauce
  • 1/4 C red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder

Steps:

  1. Cook macaroni in boiling salted water according to package directions.
  2. In a small bowl whisk together the mayo, buffalo sauce, vinegar, garlic, and chili powder.
  3. In a large bowl toss cooked pasta with the veggies.
  4. Coat pasta salad in as much dressing as desired. (I only used about half of the sauce)

*This recipe is inspired by Whitney at http://littleleopardbook.com/2012/05/29/whats-for-a-side-spicy-buffalo-macaroni-salad/*

Buffalo Macaroni Salad | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Appetizers:

Beverages:

Main Dishes:

Sides:

Soups and Salads:

Desserts:

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Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the#SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Carrot Cake Cookies

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

Shortly after I subscribed to Lauren’s blog, Lauren’s Latest, last year this recipe showed up in my inbox. And I had to make it. Same day. I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make these cookies. I took the leftovers to work Monday morning and they didn’t even last an hour. Yes, I’ve been sitting on these pictures and this recipe for a year, waiting for Easter to roll back around so I could share it.

I made some changes based on my pantry and allergies. Instead of coconut oil I used butter, I omitted the pecans, and used brown sugar instead of molasses. I frosted the cookies with leftover cream cheese frosting from Busia’s Easter pound cake.

These cookies are amazing and would make for a perfect addition to any Easter basket. The Easter bunny might like a nibble, too.

Carrot Cake Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C grated carrots
  • cream cheese frosting (optional)

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugars. When creamy add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients until combined.
  4. Gently fold in the shredded carrot.
  5. Spoon cookie batter onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are golden and slightly puffy in the center. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for two minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
  6. When cookies are completely cool, frost with cream cheese icing if desired.

*This recipe is adapted from Lauren at http://www.laurenslatest.com/carrot-cake-pecan-cookies-with-orange-cream-cheese-frosting/*

carrot cake cookies | Sew You Think You Can Cook