The Secret Recipe Club took January off, but things are rolling along and looking as great as ever! I’m now in the group that posts at the very beginning of the month, and hopefully, even with the babies here, I’ll be able to continue being part of the group- it’s fun My blog for February was Bizzy Bakes. If you ever need a kugel recipe, this is the blog to check out! She is quite the experienced one in this field especially, and there are a good amount of varieties of kugel that I had never even considered to try. Also, Bizzy is excellent at posting consistently (I need to learn from her!) and she has tons of recipes on her site.

We still have sweet potatoes left from when I made sweet potato fries, so naturally, I went with Bizzy’s sweet potato kugel. Grating potatoes is kinda fun! It was my first time doing that, along with grating an apple. This is a super healthy side dish that would go great with a  traditional family dinner. It is light and the bottom of it is the extra special part where the eggs coagulate the ingredients to make it the “treat” of the dish.

Sweet Potato Kugel

3 large sweet potatoes
1 crispy apple
3 eggs
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup orange juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Spray cooking oil to grease pan

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square pan or round baking dish with cooking spray. In a small bowl, soak the raisins in orange juice, adding water so the raisins are covered. (You can speed up the plumping by microwaving for 30-45 seconds.)

Peel the sweet potatoes. Using a grater blade on a food processor or a box grater, grate them. Put the grated sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs. Mix into sweet potatoes. Grate the apples, add to the sweet potato and egg mixture. Stir in the salt and spices. Add the nuts, raisins and soaking liquid. Stir.
Pour/scoop mixture into your baking dish, smoothing flat.

Bake 40 minutes or so, until the edges are a little browned and the top gets golden. Let it cool a bit, then scoop out to serve.

Because of these cookies, and my need to try out random adaptations of recipes, I was extremely close to starting a major house fire. Definitely my biggest kitchen disaster to date…

I’ve seen these hot chocolate cookies circling the food blogs recently and I knew my family would be the perfect taste testers (we’ve extended our weekend Washington trip quite a bit longer). You see, about half of my family is very into hot chocolate. My one sister even drank it non-stop on our cruise in the middle of summer. I just can’t do that- hot chocolate is for cold weather, or at the least just wintertime,  if you happen to live somewhere that is consistently warm. They go through boxes

ANYway, the disaster. The cookie recipe I used was from Lizzy’s blog. When she made these cookies, she also had an “almost” fire, but hers was with using wax paper in the oven instead of parchment. Mine was because I decided to try toasting the marshmallows under the broiler. Please, PLEASE don’t try it! I altered the recipe below so you aren’t even tempted. Let’s just say, my parents’ oven was full of flames! One minute I checked and the marshmallows were still white. The next minute, they were pitch black. Lovely.

So, I made myself feel better by thinking that, when you drink hot chocolate, you don’t ever toast the marshmallows anyway, right? So, by making the cookies without toasted marshmallows, it’s more like real hot chocolate!  It ended up working out great- the marshmallows caramelized in the cookies when they baked and gave them an extra chewy consistency.

These just scream “Christmas cookie.” A hint of cocoa, a multitude of chips and the chewy marshmallows make these quite a crowd pleaser. Just remember to keep flammable foods away from the broiler

Hot Chocolate Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup  Hot Chocolate Mix (I used 3 packets Nestle milk chocolate mix)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth.  Add eggs one at a time and beat in the vanilla until combined.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, hot chocolate mix, salt and baking soda.  Add to wet ingredients in 3 or 4 steps.  Stir well.  Fold the marshmallows into the dough with the different kinds of chips.  Chill the dough for about an hour. Drop the cookie dough by the spoonful onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Bake 9-11 minutes.  Let cool and transfer to a wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

It’s time for my 2nd Secret Recipe Club post! The first time around was awesome- I had a blast checking out the other members’ posts and seeing what “my” blogger had chosen to make from my blog. What a fun idea- seriously, Amanda is a genius.

This month, I was given 365 Days of Baking. Lynne bakes every day and is very on top of posting her creations every single day- a dedication I admire and envy And, I love her rolling pin rating scale. It was super helpful in my decision on what I wanted to try. However, with SO many recipes she’s tried, it took me quite a while to decide! Although we scarfed it down before a photo op was possible, I first made the chicken tortilla bake and it was fab. Try it if you need a delicious and simple Mexican dinner! I’m also itching to try Lynne’s chocolate chip oreo cookies.

Now, onto the cookies. I finally went with the ginger chewies. The only time I seem to make ginger anything is around Christmas, and these will definitely be on my regular holiday cookie rotation. Aren’t they pretty? Such a gorgeous crackle on top. No chilling needed. Easy peasy. Oh yeah, and they’re delicious, perfectly chewy and flavored just right. My biggest hangup with ginger treats are how strongly they can be spiced up- not my thing. These are extra subtle with a hint of the spices shining through. If you happen to be a major ginger fan, however, just up the ginger to 1 1/2 or 2 teaspoons. The only change I made was lowering the baking time aby a few minutes. Definitely worthy of 4 rolling pins!

Ginger Chewies

2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves; set aside.

So, I’m still on a mini pumpkin kick. But, the Christmas treats are quickly seeping into my head (and google reader), so I’m sure those will take over very shortly

Last week, I made this bread for another girls’ meet-up. Quick breads are awesome. There couldn’t be an easier sweet snack to whip up, as long as you have the time (and patience) to bake it and let it cool before slicing and tasting!

I got this recipe from Worldwide Ward Secret Recipes. I didn’t quite have enough pumpkin leftover from my snickerdoodles, so I made up for it with a mashed banana. It was super duper moist- probably one of the best batches of quick bread I’ve baked! As far as that being from using part banana, or the fact that I underbaked it just slightly and made sure not to overmix it, who knows. Or maybe the oil, which could probably be made with half applesauce and half oil. Whatever the reason, this is a winner.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (I used 2/3 cup pumpkin & 1/3 cup banana)
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 5- inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Yeah, I realize it’s December and pumpkin time is slowly winding down, but I’m still into it! Ever since I saw this recipe on Annie’s blog, and a few others, I knew I eventually would get around to trying it. Snickerdoodles were one of my favorite cookies when I was younger, mostly because it was a rare occasion that my mom made them.  And, pumpkin could only make it that much better! I had a playgroup potluck today which was the perfect excuse to whip these up.

Personally, I was slightly disappointed when I pulled the cookies out of the oven- they looked plain and boring. But, once I tasted them, oh, did my opinion change! If you like soft and somewhat doughy cookies, these are a sure winner. The pumpkin adds a subtle and pleasant flavor, but it also helps keep away any possible cookie dryness (which seems to happen easily with snickerdoodles). These should definitely be added to your holiday baking list- it’s never too late for pumpkin

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, makes about 3-4 dozen cookies

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the coating:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.

This is my first time participating in the Secret Recipe Club and I’m super excited to be involved! I was assigned the blog Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Punch and actually browsed through all the posts to find THE one I wanted to try. If you have a gluten-free eater in the house, this blog is worth checking out. The photos are quite pretty, too

Alex (and myself, I suppose) is trying to eat healthier these days, so we bought a big box of sweet potatoes & yams at Costco. I will never cease to be amazed at the healthiness of sweet potatoes, mainly due to the fact that they kinda taste like candy. Amazing how that is. Anyway, I chose this recipe to recreate and ended up adapting it quite a bit. After trying to bake at 390 degrees, my fries weren’t getting crispy fast enough, so I upped the temperature to 450. They also needed a good 25 minutes to bake. We didn’t have any sesame seeds, neither of us really care that much for them, so instead, I sprinkled in cornmeal to give the fries a tender crunch. Try it, you won’t regret it. We couldn’t stop eating them- these guys are addicting!

Also, I just can’t get over the orange and yellow combo of the yams/sweet potatoes. If you’re able, pick up a combo of both- they should be quite easy to find this time of year! It makes for quite a lovely presentation.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 to 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chips or slices
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons cornmeal
coarse salt, to taste (optional)- I didn’t use

Heat the oven to 450°F. Toss the sweet potatoes in the oil, cornmeal and salt and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes, until tender within and crisp outside.

*An easy way to “toss”, I found, is to put the oil, cornmeal & salt in a large Ziploc freezer bag, then put in the cut-up potatoes. Shake, shake, shake it up- just like your mom did a Shake ‘n Bake

Hello, and welcome to November! I literally made these cookies yesterday- yes we still had so much candy leftover from Halloween that I HAD to do something. But, first of all, I can’t write about Halloween without a photo of our cute little duck

She had a blast holding out her pumpkin, putting on her cheesiest smile and begging for candy. We went to some shops in Alameda and Berkeley, strolling around our little quacker. My sister was in town and had gone to the Disneyland Party, so she brought candy from that, too. It’s been insane. Alex took a whole bag to work, I went through and separated all the M&M’s for the freezer, and we still had two more freezer bags left. I’ve been eating candy every day (I’m sure my OB is very proud of me these days…) to try to get through it. Lizzie made out good this year- much too good. I feel somewhat guilty, actually since she’s had not one piece. Oops.

Anyway, at least I can say the Butterfingers and Reese’s are gone! Except for being in cookie form, of which I still ate like 5 of these. Le sigh. Thank goodness for a pregnant metabolism.

These are AWESOME. They are chewy, peanut buttery with a crispy exterior that kind of melts in your mouth. The Butterfinger chunks made the cookies have a Nestle Crunchiness that was subtle enough to add a slight crisp. And, this dough is definitely adaptable! Have too many Snickers, Milky Ways, Twix, 3 Musketeers, M&M’s (pretty much any chocolate candy)? Chop them up and throw ‘em in!

Halloween Candy Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 16 Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped
About 4 fun-size Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Heat oven to 375° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped candy. If you have time, refrigerate cookie dough for about one hour.

Drop tablespoon-size mounds of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until light brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Pumpkin time!! There isn’t much more to say about it really. It is one of the best things about Fall. Growing up, I wasn’t into Fall at all, or pumpkin for that matter. But, I’d venture to say that now it’s one of my favorite times of the year. Maybe it’s because it’s a precursor to the Holiday season, which is the greatest

Seasons intrigue me. Lately, I’ve noticed that as each season comes and goes, my mind and body are ready for the change. The weather, foods, clothes and holidays each hold a special part of that time of the year and make living on this Earth quite enjoyable. And I haven’t figured out if it’s a conditioned thing, since that’s basically all I know, or if my body naturally craves the change every 3ish months. Hmmmm. Regardless, living in the Bay Area means Fall starts later than normal. It’s ok, I can still feel the crisp in the air when I take Lizzie out on our morning walks, and also as the sun is setting later in the day.

Back to pumpkin. This is my first pumpkin treat of the season. I’ve decided mini muffins are SO much more enjoyable than regular ones. I think I’ll stick with them for a while. These make a great afternoon snack, “healthy” dessert or quick breakfast. The glaze is literally the ” icing on the muffin.” It adds an extra sweet touch that gives a tiny kick from the OJ. Although with the glaze, it’s tip-toeing the line of being a cupcake, let’s just keep them as muffins. Works for me!

Orange Glazed Mini Muffins

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Orange Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons orange juice

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease mini-muffin tins(s). In a large bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Using an electric mixer set on medium, beat until creamy. Add the pumpkin and eggs and beat until smooth. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and chocolate chips. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until incorporated.

Spoon the batter into prepared mini-muffin tins, filling almost to the rim. Bake for 9 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to let cool slightly, then turn the muffins out and let cool completely on the rack.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, butter and orange juice. Dip the tips of the cooled muffins into the glaze to desired thickness. Decorate if you feel like being festive!

Rockfish- what the heck is that? The other night Alex came home and as we were going to bed, mentioned, “Oh, by the way, there’s some rockfish in the fridge.” I had no clue what that was but just said, “Ok thanks”, which basically meant, “Ok, I’m too tired to ask what or why- good night.” The following morning I see this on the bottom shelf.

Yep, my husband brings home things in biohazard bags. Just another day in the life of a resident. Well, his sweet attending physician gave him this fish as a little treat for a super long day! Neither of us had ever tried rockfish, nor knew how to cook with it. Apparently, my facebook friends didn’t either. Only my cousin responded to my plea by suggesting it to be grilled, but that wasn’t going to work last-minute in an apartment. Oh what to do…
So I started looking in the Joy of Cooking. That got the ball rolling and gave me the idea to pan fry the fish with a simple flour/cornmeal dredge. I can never just consult one cookbook, so I also checked out my Better Homes and Gardens book and stumbled upon a fantastic spice combo that I was excited to try.

Pan-frying fish is fun! I rarely cook fish, even though both of us like it. I just forget to buy it and get stuck on cooking way too much chicken. That needs to change. The golden, crackling crust had a perfect sheen to it, the fish was nice and flaky, and since it wasn’t deep-fried, we considered this a healthy success, especially with my stalwart steamed broccoli standing by

If you have no access to, or  interest in, buying rockfish, pretty much any type of fish fillet will do! Orange roughy, tilapia, catfish, cod, snapper- whatever your fancy.

And, by the way, I still don’t really know what rockfish is, but it was tasty and easy to cook. That’s all I need to know.

Pan-Fried “Rock” Fish

About 1 pound fresh fish fillets, cut in 3 to 4 pieces
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a medium size bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, salt and spices. Set aside. Heat a large skillet on medium heat until hot, then add the vegetable oil to the skillet. Coat both sides of each fish fillet with the seasoned coating, and place into the heated skillet. Fry on each side for about 3 minutes, until the bottom of the fish is nicely browned and the flesh is firm and opaque. Turn over with tongs and brown the other side for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the fillets from the skillet with tongs, let drain on paper towels, then plate and serve. The fish should flake easily off your fork.

Lizzie and I took off to Washington for a week to see the family. And, to go to the Puyallup Fair! The weather was great, I got my scone and Lizzie had far too much fun with my parents’ golden retriever. One of my sisters was also visiting and she brought along a Fall Baking Taste of Home magazine. I knew I just had make something from it before I left. Since I was still on a high from my successful yeasty sticky rolls, I picked another yeast bread to try. Ta-da! My bravery is slowly paying off.

With the sweet potato, I just microwaved it for about 6 minutes and then mashed it with a fork. Much faster than baking it if you don’t have any leftovers on hand. This is not a sweet bread, but has just a tiny hint from the honey. The thyme really makes the bread stand out and it adds a certain depth of flavor that makes the bread hard to stop eating. If you don’t have or like thyme, I think it’d still be great without it. This was also my first time braiding a dough- it was fun and made me feel like I was more of a creator and “shaper” of this dough, as cheesy as that sounds

I’ve been horrible about taking pics of Lizzie lately. Thankfully, my sister took a few while we were visiting. Lizzie’s quite the character. Sometimes she just lays down wherever for the heck of it, like so:

Hearty Sweet Potato Braid, makes 2 loaves

1 package (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes, room temperature (about 1 large sweet potato)
1 cup warm fat-free milk (110 to 115 degrees)
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon cold fat-free milk

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add the sweet potatoes, milk, oil, honey, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, salt, thyme and 2 cups whole wheat flour; beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining whole wheat flour to form a firm dough.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray; turn once to coat top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough; divide into 6 equal portions. Shape each into a 20-inch rope, place 3 ropes on baking sheet coated with cooking spray; braid. Pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Repeat with remaining ropes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 35 minutes.

Brush loaves with cold milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove loaves to wire racks to cool.