frapacino recipe from my friend angela

one of my pub church friends, anglea, shared this recipe with me.  I don't drink coffee, but I know that I am in the minority, so hopefully the coffee drinkers out there will enjoy this!

I make my own vanilla frappaccino's at home. Here's my recipe:
Cost is approx. $3 per pitcher. If you buy bottles of Starbucks Frappaccinos at the quick stops, you will pay about $1.79 per bottle.

In a 2 qt. pitcher: Mix
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 cups of your favorite hot coffee
Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Fill to the top with milk.
If you like it more sweet or more vanilla-y, you can add some french vanilla creamer.
Refridgerate til cold and enjoy for several days. =- )

my answers to tuesday's take 5 -- week #4

here are my answers to this week's tuesday's take five:

1. what are you currently trying to learn/master with your cooking?
   pastry cream (I can never get it to set)
   
2. where do you go for ideas for new recipes (cooking shows, cookbooks/magazines, experiment in the kitchen)?
   cookbooks mainly and experiment with the ingredients in my pantry
   
3. what is one thing that you make, but you don't eat?
   roasted asparagus (for mike) and any thing with mint
   
4. what is your biggest guilty pleasure with food?
   truffles from cocoamoda and eating blue bell ice cream straight out of the pint
   
5. what is one thing that you mom (or who ever taught you to cook) can make better than you?
   her corn casserole!!
   

tuesday take 5 -- week #4

here are your five questions for this week's tuesday's take 5! thanks for everyone who has been playing along!

1. what are you currently trying to learn/master with your cooking?
2. where do you go for ideas for new recipes (cooking shows, cookbooks/magazines, experiment in the kitchen)?
3. what is one thing that you make, but you don't eat?
4. what is your biggest guilty pleasure with food?
5. what is one thing that you mom (or who ever taught you to cook) can make better than you?

cookies from my twitterfriend @nikkimk

I talk a lot on my the water is fine blog about my friends that I have made on-line and how in many ways I feel closer to them than to the one's I have in real life.  this is just an example of why.  I came home yesterday to find a box on my front porch from my twitter friend nikki.  inside were these wonderful homemade toffee cookies that she had made for me since I was nervous about my surgery and she knew I would be out for a while.  she had told me that she was going to make cookies for me, but when I saw the box on my porch, it brought tears to my eyes.  I could not believe that this person who has never met me "in real life" would think that I was special enough to take the time to make and send cookies to me.  the cookies themselves are delcious (this picture does not do them justice), I am truly blessed to have her as a friend!

my answers to tuesday's take 5 -- week #3

here are my answers to this week's questions. hope everyone else is enjoying this as much as I am!

1. what surprises you most about your cooking?
   the amount of jewish comfort food that I make (chicken and matzo ball soup, challah), considering that I never had any growing up
   
2. what is the one thing that you have mastered cooking (that you could not cook when you started)?
   making yeast bread
   
3. who was your biggest inspiration to start cooking?
   my mom is an awesome cook, also, I am a very picky eater and I learned that if you cook it, you can control what goes into it
   
4. what is your favorite thing to make?
   monkey bread
   
5. what is one recipe that you are known for?
   I can't think of one, by I am known for my 25 cookies and candies at Christmas
   

tuesday take 5 -- week #3

here are your five questions for this week's tuesday's take 5! thanks for everyone who has been playing along!

1. what surprises you most about your cooking?
2. what is the one thing that you have mastered cooking (that you could not cook when you started)?
3. who was your biggest inspiration to start cooking?
4. what is your favorite thing to make?
5. what is one recipe that you are known for?
   

orange marmalade chicken

This is one of those easy meals for when you just do not have it in you to cook, but you want something great (you can skip the chilling step if you don’t have the time).  The flavor combination may sound odd, but give it a try, it’s really great!  We usually serve this over rice, but it’s also great over angel hair pasta.  Serves 4.

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1½ cups whipping cream
4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
¼ cup sliced almonds

1. Place chicken between two-sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap and flatten using meat mallet or rolling pin.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Whisk together first 4 ingredients. Place in a shallow dish, reserving 1/4 cup mixture. Add chicken to dish; cover and chill 1 hour (optional). Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade.
3. Cook chicken in 1 teaspoon hot oil in a skillet over medium-high heat 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove chicken, reserving drippings in skillet.
4. Add reserved 1/4 cup marinade mixture and chicken broth, stirring to remove bits from bottom of skillet. Stir together cornstarch and water; add to broth mixture. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
5. Stir in marmalade and next 4 ingredients. Return chicken to skillet; spoon sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with almonds and cook 8 minutes until sauce thickens.

better than XXX cake

in honor of valentines day, I wanted to share this recipe with you.  my friend jen made this cake one time and I was hooked; rich chocolate cake, caramel, toffee, and whipped topping - need I say more?!

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces caramel ice cream topping
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. bake cake in a 9 X 13 inch dish, according to package directions; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.  using a toothpick, poke holes in the top of the cake, making sure not to go through to the bottom.
2. in a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended.  slowly pour the warm topping mixture over the top of the warm cake, letting it sink into the holes; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm.
3. let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping.  decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate toffee bar chunks and swirls of caramel topping.  refrigerate and serve right from the pan!

my cousin missy's pumpkin bars recipe in honor of her birthday

I'm really enjoying sharing recipes with you on people's birthdays.  today is my cousin missy's birthday and here is her recipe for pumpkin bars and they are so yummy!!

Bottom Layer:
1 can pumpkin (29 oz.)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. salt

Top Layer:
1 yellow cake mix
¾ cup chopped walnuts
1 ½ sticks melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Mix together all ingredients for the bottom layer. Spread into a glass 9x13 pan.
   
3. Pat yellow cake mix over bottom layer.  Spread walnuts over dry mix.  Cover dry mix with melted butter.
   
4. Bake 45-55 minutes or until golden brown. 

my answers to tuesday's take 5 -- week #2

here are my answers to this week's tuesday's take 5. wanna play along?

1. what is one food that you refuse to try?
   oysters
   
2. what is the one food that you like to eat, but won't make?
   anything fried, I love to eat fried foods, but I am scared to fry them, that's why mike is my fry-daddy
   
3. what is the farthest you've traveled for a meal?
   90 miles (to austin, we make that trip quite a lot just for the food!)
4. what is the most creative/exotic meal you've ever made?
   banana egg rolls
   
5. what is scariest (i.e. hole in the wall) place you've eaten at?
   larry's in richmond, although I don't think it's all that scary
   

tuesday take 5 -- week #2

thanks to everyone who participated in last week's tuesday's take five. here's this week's questions:

1. what is one food that you refuse to try?
2. what is the one food that you like to eat, but won't make?
3. what is the farthest you've traveled for a meal?
4. what is the most creative/exotic meal you've ever made?
5. what is scariest (i.e. hole in the wall) place you've eaten at?
   

answer these 5 questions on your blog today and enter your name (or your blog's name) in the name field below and a permalink (the url for your blog post with the answer to these questions and not just to your main blog page) to your blog post in the url field. thanks for playing, see you next week!

my dad's bread pudding -- in honor of his birthday tomorrow

my dad participates in an annual event "men who cook" where he has to prepare a dish.  this is his famous bread pudding recipe that he prepared the first few years, he prepares different variations of this now each year.

½ loaf of French Bread or any bread (this is best if you let the bread dry out overnight the night before)
¼ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup raisins
1 cup half and half
¼ cup shredded coconut
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

1. Break the bread into small pieces and place in a shallow bowl.  Add half and half and milk; let stand 10 minutes.  Crush mixture with hands until blended.  Add eggs and next seven ingredients, stirring well.
2. Pour melted butter into a baking dish; tilt dish to coat evenly.  Spoon pudding mixture into dish.  Bake at 325° for 40 to 45 minutes or until pudding is very firm.  Remove from oven.  Let cool.  Serve topped with whiskey sauce, if desired.

Whiskey Sauce

½ cup butter
1½ tablespoons bourbon
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten

1. Place butter on top of a double boiler; bring water to a boil.  Reduce heat to low; cook until butter melts.  Add sugar and bourbon, stirring until sugar dissolves.
2. Gradually stir about one-fourth of hot mixture into beaten eggs; add to remaining hot mixture in pan, stirring constantly.  Cook, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes or until mixture thickens.

it does exist!! samoas ice cream

hafter reading my twitterfriend @complicatedmama's blog post today on samoa girl scout cookies, I was talking to mike about the samoas ice cream. so when he went grocery shopping today, he picked some up and it was as wonderful as I thought it would be! my friend katie and I each had a bowl before going to pub church today and it was amazing (and look at the carton, it's light!)!

my answers to tuesday's take 5 week #1

1. what is your favorite food/cooking website?
www.finecooking.com

2. do you prefer to watch cooking shows or read cooking magazines?
read cooking magazines!!

3. are you more adventuresome in what you cook or in what you eat?
in what I cook because I have more control over what it is

4. what is one ingredient that you have always wanted to cook with, but never have?
real pomegranates

5. what is the one thing that you can not cook without?
a wooden spoon

take 5 tuesdays week #1

ok, here are the 5 questions for today's take 5:

1. what is your favorite food/cooking website?
2. do you prefer to watch cooking shows or read cooking magazines?
3. are you more adventuresome in what you cook or in what you eat?
4. what is one ingredient that you have always wanted to cook with, but never have?
5. what is the one thing that you can not cook without?

answer these 5 questions on your blog today and enter your name (or your blog's name) in the name field below and a permalink (the url for your blog post with the answer to these questions and not just to your main blog page) to your blog post in the url field. thanks for playing, see you next week!

a new name and some other changes

a few days ago, I asked for some input from my blog readers on changing the name of my blog.  my "twitterfriend" @laughitoff came up with the great idea of "deep in the dish of texas" (which is obviously what I decided on).  you can check out her great blog at does this blog make us look fat?

the other thing that I was toying with doing was a series of weekly questions similar to thursday thunks that I do on my personal blog.  I decieded to go with 5 questions on tuesdays and call it "tuesday take 5".  look for the first set of questions on this tuesday.