TWD: Coconut Butter Thicks

Yes, Coconut Butter Thicks, not Thins. Why? I would like to tell you that I'm really smart and thought it would be cool to make these cookies nice and thick so that they end up more like shortbread instead of being thin and lacey. I'd like to tell you it was all a great plan of mine. I would be lieing. This ended up being at least one time for me though that my lack of clearly reading instructions all the way through because I was in hurry actually worked in my favor.

What a way to end my very first NaBloPoMo!

Clearly marked in the instructions for these cookies it says to roll them 1/4-inch thick. I didn't see that part. In fact, all I saw was the dimensions for the size of the rectangle to roll these cookies out. Add to that the fact that I made a half batch and then tried to roll my rectangle to half the size of the full batch and well, basically, this was a snafu of all kinds of mathematical errors on my part.

All I can to that is, it really didn't matter. In fact, I think I probably would still love these cookies in their thin and lacey form (and I will try again to make them that way now since I had a plan for that). That said, I loved, loved, loved these cookies as thick shortbread type cookies. They taste incredible. Other than my little snafu I didn't change the recipe at all.

I wanted to take a moment to send @doriegreenspan (that is where you can find our one and only Dorie on Twitter, in case you were wondering) for helping me through a couple of tweets to figure out what I had done wrong. Thank you Dorie for the technical support! You're the best!

This week's recipe for Coconut Butter Thins was chosen by Jayne, The Barefoot Kitchen Witch, which is where you can find the recipe for these awesome cookies, as well as in The Best Baking Book EVER. Don't forget to visit the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see all the cookies made by people who can actually read directions!

This is the main reason why making these cookies thicker really worked in my favor. We had a little chocolate and fruit fondue last night with some friends while we played a little Catan (and no, I didn't win... this time!). These cookies dipped in a little chocolate, are nothing short of extraordinary!

Easy Chocolate Fondue
(This recipe makes about 3 cups)

16 oz. good quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl. In a large Pyrex container or other heat-proof bowl, measure and heat the heavy cream until almost boiling. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Using a small whisk, stir the chocolate and cream together until it all comes together into a smooth sauce. Add the vanilla and whisk in. Serve warm.

Simple Creamy Polenta

I made my first attempt at polenta the other day, mainly in an attempt to find something thoroughly fattening that my toddler would eat, and that would go well with some roasted asparagus and schnitzel.

Let me just tell you, this recipe is a winner. Everyone loved it. And when I say everyone, for once, that includes the super picky non-eating toddler. He is a champ at not eating and this stuff he just kept coming back for more.

The secret ingredient in this creamy polenta though was the fact that it uses an entire package of cream cheese. Which, while that is great for an underweight baby, is not so great for his Mama. All I can say is, ration yourself accordingly because this recipe is totally worth it. The directions and ingredients were easy enough I really felt like I knew what I was doing.

One word of advice I will give you about this recipe though, which you can find over at Simply Recipes, was that my polenta looked like it was done cooking and super thick, about 6 minutes into cooking. The recipe calls for longer cooking than that though, so I just kept with it. I did test it when I was afraid I was overcooking and the grains weren't ready yet, so if it looks like it is done, just trust the recipe and keep your heat on low and stir well, and you should be fine!  Note: Alanna made an excellent point about just trusting the recipe and gave me a much clearer way to put what I was trying to tell you.  She said, "consult the recipe, trust your instincts, watch and taste, you will be fine".  So please, do that! ; )

Glazed Pan Seared Salmon

In an attempt to not miss today, which was filled with lots of baking and cooking, but apparently no time to blog, it is now 1 hour before I miss one of the last days of my March NaBloPoMo. Lucky for me I still have a bunch of recipes I need to share with you.

This salmon was one of them. I originally saw this over at My Kitchen Cafe where Melanie grilled the salmon. Since we made this for my husbands birthday, which was in January, I didn't try to brave the snow and just went ahead and cooked our salmon inside on a nice cast iron skillet which is why mine has the crust on the outside. My husband, and our guests, all raved about this and thought it was the best salmon they've ever had.

Get the Recipe Here

Mini Chocolate Chip Pecan Pancakes with Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

If I give you a recipe for the most delicious little pancakes that are like eating dessert for breakfast, say, on a nice Sunday morning, perhaps like tomorrow, will you forgive me for waiting all day to post? Again?

If the pancakes aren't enough, then how about adding on some of the most delicious and incredible sweet, caramel syrup that isn't overly sweet and still has a bit of tang from the buttermilk it is made with?

These little pancakes, which are only about 3-inches across each, are fluffy, tender and studded with pockets of melted, chocolatey goodness plus a few lightly toasted pecan pieces for good measure. Wow. sorry, I just lost my train of thought thinking about these again. I have a sneaking suspicion I may be making these for breakfast again tomorrow.

I first saw this recipe over at Joy the Baker's blog when she made them with milk chocolate. I have made these with milk chocolate too, but with the buttermilk caramel syrup I really liked the contrast of the bittersweet chips instead. I can't imagine that whatever kind of chocolate you wanted to use with this recipe wouldn't just be awesome.

Mini Chocolate Chip Pecan Pancakes
Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes approx. 24 3-inch pancakes

2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup bittersweet or semisweet (or milk) chocolate chips
1/3 cup coarsely chopped, lightly toasted pecans

oil or cooking spray (for cooking)

Beat together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the melted and cooled butter and mix well. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mix well to combine. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir well until mostly smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Let the batter stand while the griddle heats.

Heat griddle or pan over medium heat, or about 350 degrees. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan or spray with cooking spray. You can test to see if the pan is hot enough by adding a few drops of water, if or when the drops start to dance its hot enough.

Pour 2 Tablespoons of batter at a time onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook on the first side until bubbles that form start to pop. You can also gently lift up the pancake to make sure the bottom is not overcooking, if it is the pan may be too hot and you will need to adjust the heat. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone. Let cooked pancakes rest on a heat proof plate in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup Recipe

Winner for the Macy's Giftcard Giveaway Is...

Friends, it has been a sick, rough and busy day. I am so sorry to say that this sad little post, with no recipe at all, is the best I've got for you today. I PROMISE I will make it up to you tomorrow!

According to Random.org, the winner of the $20 Macy's Giftcard Giveaway is ................

.............................

.............................

#15

Anne said... The need to eat and ability to completely customize my food is what keeps me cooking!

Congratulations Anne! Please send me your mailing address at phemomenon[at]gmail[dot]com

Homemade Sloppy Joes and Buns - and NaBloPoMo 5 Days To Go!

Earlier this month, at the start of my NaBloPoMo, when I professed my love for sloppy joes, I mentioned that I had finally come up with my own recipe.  I promised to find those pictures and post the recipe, and now I am (finally) making good on that promise!  

Aside from actually being, hands down, the best Sloppy Joes I've ever had (and oh boy, have I eaten more than my fair share of Sloppy Joes) this was fun and easy to make.  They had just enough spice and just the right amount of sweetness for me.  I mentioned before, but I'll mention again, that yes, I like to add a can of baked beans into the mix.  There are a couple of reasons for that, first, I just really like it and the importance of really liking what you are making just can't be taken for granted, and second, it stretches the recipe a bit further so you get more bang (and more food) for your buck, and certainly, in today's world, the importance of making your ingredients stretch can't be taken for granted either.

The other star of this show was, yes, more homemade hamburger buns.  It is a very large batch though, but, instead of trying to downsize, the folks over at King Arthur Flour have taken the guess work out and given directions for just freezing the buns to have on hand.  So, I did.  Guess what?  The very next time I wanted to make burgers, I had homemade buns, ready to go, in the freezer.  I just pulled them out to defrost and they were good to go.  I mean that.  I am actually not a huge fan of frozen/defrosted baked goods most of the time.  These were just as good as they were fresh from the oven.  A little slice, a little shmear of butter, a little toasting on a hot pan, and voila, we're in business.

One warning though.  Once you make these recipes, you'll have a very hard time ever going back to mixes or packets of seasoning or store bought buns ever again.  Which is just fine, because this is so easy, you'll never have to.  For the recipe for these buns, head over to King Arthur Flour.  In case the fact that I've already sung this recipe's praises isn't enough, let me just add that you can use the recipe to make hot dog buns, as well as top these with whatever toppings or seeds strike your fancy.  I should also mention that these are just tasty rolls that you can eat with whatever too.  An all around winner.

Sloppy Joes

Original Recipe by Holly Hanks @ PheMOMenon

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 large green or red bell pepper (or I used 4 baby sweet bell peppers of assorted color - they were tender and perfect!)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon dark or light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup water

1 can of your favorite baked beans with liquid (optional)

In a small bowl, combine together the chili powder, cumin, celery salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, and pepper, set aside.

In a large skillet, add the ground beef and cook until browned and well cooked through. Remove the meat to drain and set aside in a bowl.  To the skillet add the olive oil and the chopped onions. Cook over medium heat until translucent and getting tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, stir well to combine and cook the garlic about 1 minute more.  

Add the hamburger back to the pan and turn heat to low.  Add the spices to the pan, along with 1/3 cup water, Worcestershire and tomato paste.  Stir well to combine.  Add the baked beans if you are using them and stir gently.   Allow the entire mixture to simmer and heat through on low, for 10 minutes.  

Serve hot on toasted buns, with or without a slice of cheddar cheese and a few tortilla chips on the side.  Either way, have some napkins handy.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Until very recently I had never really liked carrot cake.  I'm not a big fan of cakes that are 'loaded' to the brim with stuff and most carrot cakes are just way too busy for me with all the carrots, nuts, pineapple, coconut, etc. in there. 

Then there are these cupcakes.  Simple, not overloaded and, in a word, heavenly.  If there is a simpler recipe, I don't know what it would be.  These are cupcakes that are mixed in one bowl really, and by hand.  The most high-tech thing that has to be done is to shred a couple of carrots.  In fact, other than some spice, the carrots, and the usual suspects, there aren't any other embellishments in this recipe.  And it doesn't need it.  

Don't get me wrong, you could certainly toss some toasted nuts in, or add some other stuff to it if you want, but you don't have to.  Which is really nice.   The frosting is the perfect embellishment with the cream cheese, some orange zest and vanilla bean paste - I just dearly love the orange / vanilla combo.  I also added just a little bit of heavy cream to my frosting to get a more flowing frosting that was somewhere between a thick frosting and an extra thick glaze.  These cupcakes are great with a few broken pieces of lightly toasted walnuts or pecans on top too.

The first time I made these cupcakes was for my husband's birthday.  He is rather hard to please in the dessert department, and especially with cake.  I did know that he liked carrot cake though.  I literally threw these together while dinner was cooking.  They were mixed, baked, cooled, frosted and eaten within about 45 minutes.  That, in my opinion, is my kind of dessert. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)

Frosting:

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)

Finely grated zest of one orange

1 - 2 Tablespoons heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients and set aside.

In another large bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients, except for the carrots. Combine well, then stir in the grated carrots.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir until well combined.  

Divide between the 12 lined cups (they will be about 3/4 full).  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.  

To make the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the ingredients together.  For a slightly thinner, glaze-like frosting, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream and stir into the mixture to get the consistency you want (as shown) - without the cream the frosting will just be thicker.  Top each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of frosting and serve.

Optional:  These cupcakes are great topped with some lightly toasted pecans or walnuts.

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

Sihan of Befuddlement chose the Blueberry Crumb Cake in Baking From My Home To Yours for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. The fabulous Dorie Greenspan, who our group is named for, has been nominated for a James Beard award in Journalism. Hooray for Dorie and congratulations!

On a slightly related note, did you know that, besides following me @PheMom you can now follow the group on Twitter as well as Dorie herself? Check it out @DorieGreenspan and @TuesdayswDorie - just thought if you are a fellow tweep you ought to know. Speaking of, if you are a fellow tweep - please let me know so that I can start finding you (if I don't already). Please leave me your Twitter username in your comment so I can follow you too!

Back to the Blueberry Crumb Cake. This cake was really fun and easy to put together and came out with beautiful results. The flavor of all of it together is amazing. If you love blueberry muffins, then think of this cake as a huge step up. I made the cake exactly as directed, but, since I was out of walnuts, used pecans in the topping. It was amazing and I'm sure even better with the walnuts!

Even though I loved this, I have to admit, I am still partial to the Jam Crumb Cakes I made a while back. I still don't entirely love baked fruit, so the blueberries in this were sometimes not my favorite part. That said, I can't wait to try this recipe with some peaches next since they are the one fruit I do like when baked.

I you haven't already entered the Macy's Giftcard Giveaway I'm doing, then you have until midnight Thursday to comment and enter to win. It is a really easy one to enter, so follow that link and get to it!

Coconut Loaf Cake with Thick Lime Glaze and a Giveaway!

I have been reading the recipes in Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen cookbook for the past week and immediately bookmarked one for Coconut Bread. It intrigued me since I hadn't had or seen anything like that before. I decided I wanted to change things up a bit anyway though and make it into a cake. I used a 9-inch springform which worked beautifully.

It makes a beautiful kind of a brunch cake or something you could have as an afternoon snack. The original recipe uses lemon, but I decided to go with lime. It also used coconut milk as well as toasted coconut.

I was thinking of topping it with a white chocolate glaze of some kind, but since I was undecided, went ahead and twittered all my foodie friends to see what they thought. While the white chocolate glaze sounded good though, @MormonFoodie, suggested a glaze made with powdered sugar, lime and coconut milk. That sounded really good, but unfortunately I was all out of coconut milk at that point since I used it all in the cake.

I decided to go with a simple glaze out of lime juice, powdered sugar and heavy cream. I wanted something very thick and smooth, and I got exactly that.

Even with the use of the coconut milk and toasted coconut, this cake / bread doesn't have an overwhelming coconut flavor. It just has all the very best characteristics of the flavor and texture. My son, who is a coconut hater, loved it. Of course, I didn't tell him what it was until after he ate a piece though!

Since the recipe came from Mr. Florence, I thought it would be a good way to announce a little giveaway that my friends over at M80 are helping me giveaway a $20 Macy's gift card to one of my lucky readers.

The giveaway is to help let all our foodie friends know about some podcasts that are available from Macy's and Tyler to help everyone with some cooking skills and knowledge, as part of Macy's Keeps America Cooking Campaign. You can view the podcasts here. Here is what M80 had to say about the podcasts and the contest...

"Macy’s and Tyler Florence, have joined and created an exciting 12-series
podcast hosted at macys.com/keepitcooking that feature some of his favorite
recipes. Check out what gets Tyler cooking and try out some of his tasty meals!
Macy’s also wants to know what gets you cooking and is offering you the chance
to win a kitchen shopping spree with Tyler in San Francisco!"

The contest goes through April 3rd, so if you are interested, check it out here! You can even find out more about it from M80 here!

All you have to do to win that Macy's card is to leave me a comment here and tell me what keep's you cooking? I'll run the contest till this Thursday, March 26th at midnight (MST) then use Random.org to pull a number from the comments.

Coconut Loaf Cake with Thick Lime Glaze
Source: Tyler Florence - link to original recipe here

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 2 limes, finely grated
1 - 14 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted (see Note)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with butter.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In another large bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lime zest. Pour in the coconut milk and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together with a spatula until you have a smooth batter.

Gently fold in the shredded coconut until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan and set it on a cookie sheet. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

Cool the bread in the pan for 20 minutes or so; then when cool enough to handle, remove the coconut bread to a cutting board and let it cool completely before glazing to keep the glaze nice and thick.

Note: To toast the coconut: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the coconut on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring it periodically Toasting will fluff up the coconut and increase its volume (as well as make it taste better).

Thick Lime Glaze

2 cups powdered confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 to 1/3 cup heavy cream

Whisk ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl til thick and smooth. Pour over the cake and use a rubber spatula to gently spread the glaze to the sides so that the weight just takes it down the sides of the cake. Add extra lime juice or cream, depending on the taste and thickness you want. The ratios above just have a light lime flavor.

Chocolate Bouchons

Sorry for the delay all! I was just never able to get near the computer yesterday. Sheesh! So, back to these brownie corks - aka Chocolate Bouchons. These are the warm, soft, buttery, chocolatey, most delicious brownies of your dreams.

I made this same recipe a while ago and tried to bake them in a different mold, but since Williams-Sonoma made this pan readily available I couldn't resist trying it again. I have to admit, the pan does make a bit of a difference in how it all worked out. I guess my next attempt with this recipe will be to try a regular pan and see how it works out.

The recipe, the title and the idea of course, all come from Thomas Keller. You can follow this link to see the other attempt and get the recipe.

Chocolate Bouchon pan from Williams-Sonoma

Home Fries and a Weekend Breakfast Suggestion

In an effort not to completely blow my so far good record with NaBloPoMo, it is now 10:37 pm on a Saturday night and I am finally finishing this post.  Ten more days and then I can bring things back to normal and have all my archives just about cleaned up with all the things I have slacked on telling you about.

So, since tomorrow is Sunday, and for me that usually means a little extra time to slow down and take the time to make a more special breakfast, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite breakfast recipes.

Before I talk about these Home Fries though, I have a quick little suggestion to make.  

Do you read Joy the Baker's blog?  I hope so and would guess that most of you do.  If you don't, well, then you should.  Joy is simply wonderful and so fun.  She is always doing something fun or making something great.  In fact, it is because of Joy that I now have these potatoes stuck in my mind.  While this recipe is adapted from one of my favorite books, it was Joy's post to her readers about letting her "make them breakfast" this weekend that got them to the front of the pile.  What a fun idea!

So, if you decide to try these home fries, which, incidentally are great any time of day, perhaps you will head on over to Joy the Baker and get acquainted with her recipes - which, for breakfast, are wonderful and plentiful too.  Personally, I'll be making her Dad's Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.  I would try to describe how delicious they are, but really, you need to go read her post about them yourself.  All I will say is, it inspired me to stop what I was doing, write down the recipe and go in the kitchen and make them right that minute. Literally.  They are just sweet enough and perfectly delightful.

On to the potatoes.  What I love about these potatoes is that, though they are a bit of effort, it isn't the kind that annoys me.  Extra steps don't annoy me.  Extra mess does.  I am a potato peeling hater.  I'll do it when I have to, but if I can avoid it, then I am all for that.

These potatoes pack a great amount of flavor and texture for, really, minimal effort, with just a couple extra steps.  They get crisp and wonderful spots of caramelized goodness on the outside while being tender and fluffy on the inside.  

Without a doubt, these are my most favorite way to eat any kind of hashbrown like potato.  Go ahead, give them a chance.  You won't regret it.

Home Fries

Adapted liberally from Williams-Sonoma Breakfast

1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry, cut into bite-size pieces*

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons Canola oil

3 Red Baby Bell Peppers or 1 large Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3/4 teaspoon chile powder

Kosher salt to taste (about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon)

In a large pot with a steamer basket, add about 1 inch depth of water.  Place the cut potatoes in the steamer basket and place the lid on the pot.  Bring the water to a boil and cover and steam the potatoes for about 10 minutes.  *If you want you can steam the scrubbed potatoes whole and just steam for about 15-20 minutes (if the potatoes aren't too big) until tender, then cut them into the bite-size pieces.  I'm not that patient and like to skim time.  If you have the extra time though, your potatoes may get a little crisper when you are cooking them if you steam them whole.  Either way, they are delicious.

Once the potatoes are tender, remove them from the steamer and place in a large bowl to rest while you prepare the pan.  If you have a large cast-iron frying pan, that is best, but a regular pan will work fine too.  Over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the oil.  When the butter is completely melting and the foam is starting to go down, add the bell pepper and onion pieces to the pan and cook, stirring a few times, until glossy and getting tender, about 5 minutes.

Add everything in the pan to the bowl with the potatoes.  Add the chile powder and salt to the mixture in the bowl and toss gently with a large spoon to distribute.  Once it is fairly well mixed, but the potatoes are still holding together well, add everything back to the pan.  If you don't mind the potatoes being a bit mushed up you can skip this step and just add them straight to the pan and season them there.

Once the potatoes are in a layer in the pan, do not disturb them until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.  Then turn they gently with a large spatula in batches, trying to get them turned so that you only turn them a couple of times during cooking.  This gets the best crust and browning.  It will take about 10 to 15 minutes more.  Serve hot.

Serves 4.

Triple Lemon Chiffon Loaf Cake

The Cake Slice Bakers this month made a Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake.  This cake is easy to put together, goes together fairly quickly and is absolutely light, lemony and delicious.  In fact, if you like Lemonheads candy (which I LOVE) then you would be completely delighted with this cake.  I got that distinct level of tart and tangy with just enough sweet.  It was awesome.  The cake itself has a beautiful yellow tone to it and is light and slightly springy.  The lemon curd layered between the layers of cake is tangy and smooth and the whipped lemon cream frosting is super simple to make and is the perfect light compliment to the whole thing.  I just added some bright yellow sugar sprinkles on top for an extra burst of color and a little sugary crunch.

I really have nothing bad to say about this cake, well, except for the fact that I halved the recipe since I didn't have anywhere to take the cake this time.  I guess the only con is that there isn't more.  To make the lemon loaf cake like I did, I just made a half batch of everything and then baked the cake in one 9x13-inch pan.  

Seriously, if you like lemon, just make this cake!

Incidentally, if you do decide to make this cake, someone mentioned recently that March 29th is National Lemon Chiffon Day - so, there you go!

Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

Source:  Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes

For the recipe, visit Gigi Cakes (one of our fearless leaders) whose cake with little ballerinas on top is about the cutest thing ever!!

Bourbon Chicken and Jasmine Rice - Plus the Apron Giveaway Winner!

I have had this recipe bookmarked for a while now, ever since I saw it over on Melanie's blog. I love these kinds of recipes and, while Melanie has several delicious looking chicken dishes on her blog, this one looked fast. Really fast. I have to admit that when it comes to meal planning, I am not always as much of a planner as I wish I was. Most of our meals end up being eaten later than intended because I had no plan in mind and started something that was going to take a while.

I am happy to say that this meal was started and eaten, all within 45 minutes. All I had to plan ahead was to at least make sure I had the ingredients and had some chicken thawed.

I modified the recipe only a little, mainly because of what I had on hand and what I thought I would like. I only had myself and Aidan to feed this to today, and didn't really plan on a lot of leftovers, so I decreased the amount of chicken I made, but I didn't change the amount of sauce since I wanted a little extra to go on the rice.

Now speaking of the rice, I have to admit, that I don't actually make rice often, because I never have that great of results. That has all changed today. I'm never looking back. It was simple to make and the rice tasted wonderful and had a perfect fluffy texture - even without being drowned with sauce of some kind.

The other change I made to the recipe was to add some chopped bell pepper for color and a little extra flavor. Overall, these are both recipes I know I will be making often from now on.

This made the perfect fast and tasty meal and was even kid friendly. If your kids don't like spice though, I would suggest cutting back on the red pepper flake a bit though since it was a little too hot for Aidan.

Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice

Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 tablespoons oil (for pan-frying)

2 T cornstarch (for dusting)
1 large red bell pepper or 6 assorted color baby bell peppers, cut into bite size pieces (or 1/2 inch)

Sauce:

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¼ cup apple juice

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

½ cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into small bite-sized pieces, and dust them lightly with cornstarch. Heat oil in large frying pan and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned over medium-high heat. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels and set aside. Leave the remaining oil in the pan and add the bell pepper pieces to the pan. Saute for 5 minutes til soft.

In a blender combine all sauce ingredients and blend for about 10-15 seconds. Strain the mixture into the frying pan and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until sauce has thickened and reduced almost completely to thick glaze over chicken and peppers. Serve over hot steamed rice.

Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice
Source: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Serves 4 - Makes 3 1/2 cups

1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)

Rinse the rice in a colander until the water runs clear to remove some of the starch. Let the rice drain. Put the rice, water, and salt in a medium pot and place over medium heat. When the water begins to boil, stir it once; then cover tightly and lower the heat. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes without lifting the lid - it is wise to set a timer. After 15 minutes take the cover off to check the rice. The water should be absorbed and rice cooked but firm. Fluff the cooked grains with a fork so they separate, but do not stir with a spoon or the rice will become gummy. Add the butter and toss gently. Serve hot.

Winner!

AND THE WINNER OF THE BLOOM-N-BLUSH GIVEAWAY IS....

doughmesstic said...
I follow you on Twitter! (of course!)
March 15, 2009 3:38 PM

Woo hoo! Thanks so much to everyone that entered. Don't forget, you can still get free shipping through April 30th on orders from Bloom-n-Blush!

Art You Eat

I am lame. Lame, lame, lame. I have had so much stuff going on here on this little blog of mine that I have shoved my own little event to the back burner. Why? Frankly, I just haven't been able to decide what to do about it and how I wanted to handle it. Since it is my event though and it has already had some changes along the way, I guess one more big change won't hurt.

My sincerest apologies to all of you who have been waiting to see the round-up and participated in the last Art You Eat. I just can't seem to keep track of this event when I'm trying to put the information over here on a separate blog with a separate email address. So, AYE is in for some big changes.

The first big change - this separate blog will be no more after this round-up. It will still be here as an archive and I will add links over at PheMOMenon. My next change is going to be how the themes are chosen. Let me explain why I'm making these changes. When I first put together this event it was to explore specific ingredients, techniques, and recipes as well as different types of creations that we can all use our creativity to come up with a different spin on. I

wanted it to be a collection of all the cool stuff that all my cool food blogging friends could put together - and it definitely has! But while alot of it here has been specific to a certain ingredient it still has some work on my part to do to come up with what I really wanted the challenges to be about.So, what does that mean? Simply put, I haven't done a very good job of hosting. I need to do better. I hope that these changes are the start of this!

I will soon be announcing the new Art You Eat event here on PheMOMenon!

TWD: French Yogurt Cake with Strawberries and Cream

I hope that the fact that my French Yogurt Cake turned into such a tall and lovely creation will make up for the fact that I am making this post extremely brief.  I have been chasing two sick kids around to various doctor appointments today and, at this moment, one of them is beyond ready for a nap.  

I decided to take Dorie's recommendation in the playing around section and try this cake as a kind of Strawberry Shortcake version - only mine ended up being quite tall.  

I went ahead and baked the cake in the loaf pan, then I just cut 1/2-inch thick slices and used a 2 1/2-inch round cutter to cut some small rounds to stack with some lightly sweetened whipped cream and sliced strawberries that had been soaking in a bit of vanilla and sugar.  

The black flecks in my cake come from the use of some vanilla sugar I had on hand and the only other change I made was to use orange zest instead of lemon.

Overall, I really liked this cake, but funny enough, my favorite part was the caramelized outsides of the cake even more than the tender and moist insides seen here.  I think I would like these as cupcakes (without liners) to get even more of a 'crust' to cake ratio.  Cutting it the way I did left quite a few nice scraps for me to nibble on though, so who knows!

Don't forget to stop by and say hello to this week's hostess, Liliana at My Cookbook Addiction! , and to head over to the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see all the other creations.

If you haven't already entered my apron giveaway, you have till midnight tomorrow (MST) (3/18/09) to enter.  Just check it out here!

Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies

This month's recipe for the Cookie Carnival brought me back - which considering that it has carrots and raisins, may come as a surprise. I've discovered in recent months that I really like carrot cake.

I thought it would be fun to make these Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies for this month's challenge and see if I liked this slightly more portable version just as much.

The good news is, these cookies are pretty simple to put together and extremely tasty. The bad news is that when I made mine they really flattened out and spread. I don't know why - but I suspect that perhaps it is time to check the temperature of my oven again and see it that was the culprit. Either way, as I said, these taste really good, so eating them up, thin or not, really didn't matter in the end.

Loaded Chocolate Brownies - See's Candies Review

It will come as absolutely no shock at all when I make the statement that I love chocolate. What may or may not surprise you is the fact that my absolute favorite chocolates are See's. Some of my very favorite memories of working in Downtown Salt Lake City was visiting the See's shop around the corner from our office about once a week during one of our lunch breaks with my cousin to just 'pick up a few things.' It always made the whole week so much better to go in and choose a few of my favorite chocolates and maybe try a sample of something new.

My all time favorite assortment is the Dark Nuts and Chews - a boxed mixture of dark chocolate covered caramels, Scotchmallows and nuts. I love knowing that I can get a box that every single chocolate in it is going to be something fantastic.

I decided to see what would happen if I made some brownie cupcakes and loaded them with some chopped up chocolates, and then topped them off with some toasted marshmallows. Well. The brownies you see below are what happened - and they are really, really good. I also thought it would be fun to use my brownie bite pan and make some little miniature brownies that were just the right size to snuggle back into the box of chocolates with the remaining chocolates that I didn't chop up. It made for a very fun, and delicious, presentation and treat!

I was contacted recently by a representative of See's asking if I would be willing to make something out of one of their products and then blog about it to help let everyone know that their Easter candy becomes available tomorrow (March 16th). Of course I jumped at the chance, but not only because I wanted the chocolates.

I remember, when I was growing up, that while Valentine's Day was fun to get some chocolates or something fun, it was actually Easter that I always wished I would get a really cool Easter basket. For me, Valentine's was more about flowers, but Easter was the time I really wished I would get one of those cool chocolate bunnies, or maybe even a pretty chocolate egg - better yet, one I could decorate myself. Brightly colored, egg shaped wrapped chocolates would have been great too.

Inevitibly, around our house, it was just the generic jelly beans in plastic eggs - which, don't get me wrong, is great too, but I always wished I would have had something a bit more fanciful. So, as for me, this year, I know exactly what I will be putting in Aidan's Easter basket. He is a chocolate loving kid and every time I see his face light up when he see's those chocolate bunnies, I just know that I am going to have to get one for him.

To see all of See's Easter candies and chocolates, visit them online at See's Candies.


Loaded Chocolate Brownies
By Holly, PheMOMenon

Makes 12 Individual Brownies + 24 Bite Size Pieces

12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/8 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 Cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
7 ounces of assorted dark chocolate covered candies with nuts
1 1/2 cups marshmallows

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line or spray the muffin pan (12 cup or 18 if not making any mini's).

In a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt together the butter and chocolate, stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together the sugars, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium until well combined and starting to lighten and get fluffy. On low speed, add the cooled chocolate/butter mixture and increase the speed to mix well, about 1 minute.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. On low speed, add to the mixing bowl and mix just to combine. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chopped chocolates and nuts, just to combine. Fill the muffin cups, or whatever molds you are using, just half full with a scoop of batter.

Bake regular size cupcake portions 20 minutes, or until the surface has a glossy, crackled top. For mini's bake, 10 minutes. If you are using the marshmallows, once the brownies are baked, remove them from the oven and, while still in the pan, top them with a few marshmallows and place the pan back in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes - just enough to puff and lightly toast the marshmallows. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool just enough to handle, then remove the brownies from the pan and let cool completely.

Buttermilk Spice Muffins

I'm almost halfway through my first attempt at NaBloPoMo and here I am, at 10:30 PM finally posting for today. That still counts, right? I hope so. This one is going to be short and sweet.

I do mean sweet too. When my in-laws are visiting in town we sometimes go to Mimi's Cafe for lunch and my SIL and nephew always order the Buttermilk Spice Muffins. They are huge jumbo muffins, that, for some reason, the Mimi's here seem to always over bake. Which is why I haven't ordered one. I was curious though and wondered what they were like. When Ms. Peabody herself then posted about her love for the exact same muffins I knew they must be something really good.

I set out to make them, and I have to tell you, they are pretty fantastic. I absolutely loved them. I think that I may do the topping a bit differently than just the sprinkled sugar/cinnamon on top next time, but I can tell you I will come back to this recipe again and again.

I also wanted to take a minute to tell you all about a giveaway that Susan is having over at DoughMessTic that you should check out - it is for a great Emile Henry Pie Dish.

Also - don't forget to enter to win an apron of your choice: There are a few more days left in the Bloom-n-Blush giveaway! Just check out the bottom half of this post and leave your comments there to enter to win!

Potatoes Gratin Dauphinoise

That is one fancy name for a dish of humble potatoes, isn't it? Here's the thing though. These potatoes deserve it. Yes, this is a rustic dish, but the end result is nothing short of spectacular. I don't use that word lightly either. I love potatoes. I am a total meat-n-potatoes kind of girl. All that said, if I could only have my potatoes one way for the rest of my life, it would be this dish.

The really intriguing thing that caught my eye about this dish is the fact that it looks deceptively cheesey. Why deceptively? Well, because there is no cheese in this at all. It is made with just a few simple ingredients, like the very best of recipes are, and the incredible texture and creaminess comes from just cream and butter. Add to that some really good potatoes, some garlic, some salt and pepper and that covers the ingredient list. Awesome.

In fact, I loved this dish so much when we had it for the Hubs birthday, along with that Pepper Steak and Glazed Mushrooms, that I was determined to get some kind of slicer to make cutting the potatoes faster and easier for me (I cut them all by hand for the dish above, so you don't have to have a special tool for this... it is just a bonus).

When I visited this great little kitchen store, locally owned and operated, I found a great deal on this little Zyliss 4-in-1 tool. It was an added bonus that this tool had the two grater plates as well as the two sizes of slicer plates, because, frankly, if I wanted to grate cheese before now, all I had was my big food processor, which is such overkill to have to clean up for a small amount.

I did have a different grater, but I also have two little boys who like to play - a little too rough - with my kitchen tools sometimes. It was one of those kind where there is a plastic piece and no grater - well they snapped the handle plastic part in half. Great. Not grate anymore. Just a sarcastic great. Yeah. I went there. You know me and my bad jokes.

Anyway, this kitchen store, aptly named The Kitchen Store 3, is in a small shopping area in a very busy location, but, thanks to the economy, like most other independently owned businesses, is struggling to keep afloat, which is a real shame, because it is the type of place where you can actually feel really comfortable shopping and looking around through all the fun tools, dishes, appliances and various kitchen gear. In fact, the owner even turned on a movie for my boys to relax and watch while I shopped a bit! It is these kinds of places that we need to help in this economy to help keep the dreams and passions of those that love cooking and food and baking just as much as we do!

So, if you live in the Salt Lake area, you know it isn't far to go to hop on over to check out their store if there is something you are looking for or just to go and check it out and see what surprises might be waiting there for you. They are located at 7800 S and Redwood Road, in the little shopping area where the Gold's Gym is located.

They also have FREE cooking classes a couple of times a week in a really nice little kitchen area in the store, so you should check out their schedule here and plan to attend some classes. They have posted the recipes on their blog from some of the classes already if you missed it!

So, back to these potatoes, I can't think of a better way to describe them than the information provided in the book I got the recipe from, so, here you go (and I dare you not to be intrigued and completely tempted by this description...):

"A Classic Gratin: This potato gratin hails from the Dauphine region of eastern France. It is easy to make, but some special touches are necessary. First, the sliced potatoes mush be rinsed or soaked and then dried well, to remove excess starch that would make the dish gummy. Salt should be added with a generous hand, and plenty of butter and cream should be poured in to achieve a silky, unctuous quality. Cheese is not necessary, as the flavor of the crusty potatoes should dominate. If possible, choose a rustic ceramic baking dish that reflects this recipe's homey character."

Potatoes Gratin Dauphinoise
Source: Williams-Sonoma Vegetable
Serves 4.

5 large russet potatoes, about 2 1/2 lb total weight, peeled (I actually used 2 1/2 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes)
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped, plus 1 clove, halved (optional)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Cut the potatoes crosswise into 1/8-inch thick slices. Slide the potatoes slices as you cut them to a large bowl with cold water (enough to cover all the potatoes when you are done). Let the potatoes soak for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Center a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat it to 325 degrees F. Place a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Rub the bottom and sides of a 2-qt baking dish with the halved garlic clove (if you are using it), then butter the dish with 2 tablespoons of the room temperature butter.

Drain the potato slices and dry them well with a clean kitchen towel. Cut the 4 tablespoons of butter into small pieces. Arrange a layer of the potato slices in the baking dish, sprinkle with some salt and pepper, then dot with pieces of butter, and add a light scattering of the chopped garlic, if using. Repeat the layering until all the potatoes are used, seasoning each layer as you go along. Reserve some of the butter for the top of the gratin. The potatoes should reach no higher than within 1/2-inch of the rim of the dish. Pour the cream evenly over the potatoes. Dot bits of butter across the top and sprinkle the top with some salt and pepper.

Cover the gratin with foil and bake until the potatoes are translucent and the cream is bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is crusty and the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes more. If it seems dry, baste the top occasionally with the liquid in the dish. Serve at once, directly from the baking dish. You can sprinkle the gratin with chopped fresh parsley right before serving, if desired.

There are a few more days left in the Bloom-n-Blush apron giveaway!

Just check out the bottom half of this post and leave your comments there to enter to win an apron of your choice!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Mary, The Food Librarian, made these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Everyday Food, and, as soon as I saw them, I really had to have them. Mine look very ooey and oozy in the best of ways, simply because I really never have chocolate chips on hand, just lots of chocolate. I chopped up a couple of bars I had so I could get these cookies made. Pretty much they were just begging to be made right this second. My thanks go out to Mary for making that recipe - these cookies are awesome! All I can say is, just make them as soon as you can.

Don't forget to check out the giveaway on my post from yesterday about the apron giveaway from Bloom-n-Blush for your chance to win your favorite out of all their darling aprons and bags! Just go to this post to see how you can take advantage of all your chances to win!

My First TV Experience and a GIVEAWAY!!!

This is me. This is actually me posing for my bloggy friends photo shoot in the Good Things Utah kitchen. You really have to love bloggers. It is so great being in a group of people that think alike. Lindsey, Becky and I all showed up with our cameras and both gals took shots of me in the kitchen, which I couldn't have done for myself, so I am so grateful! The pictures here are from Lindsey since she had a great pro camera. I hope they got some pictures of them too because I was pretty out of it trying to get ready to cook on live TV and was kept pretty busy with that too.

Let me warn you right now that there are a lot of links you are going to want to check out in this post, so if you didn't already know, ctrl click is your friend and will leave this post open and let you choose to open the link in another window so you can enjoy all the good stuff!

The TV segment yesterday was awesome. I was completely nervous, but I think I hid it pretty well. I am told by my immediate family that unless you knew me well you might not catch my tells (the shaky voice and hands at times). You know I am all about full disclosure and honesty here, so now when you watch the video you can see if you catch me shaking in my boots! Well, my ballet flats anyway. If you want to miss all the rest of the fun and jump down to the video link toward the middle of the post, you can, but there is lots of fun stuff to tell, so you may want to stick around.



That is the demo plate of the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas I made for the show. I have mentioned it a couple of times before, and I got to mention on air that the original recipe for these came from a couple of other bloggers, but I just wanted to reiterate here how grateful I am to Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe for turning me on to this recipe in the first place.

The really fun thing (I think) about this original recipe is that it has been through at least three or four sets of adaptations. That probably isn't even the whole story. In my enchiladas, I increased the honey and lime a bit and took the amount of chili powder down a bit. I also use fresh garlic because that is what I always have on hand and like that more than the powder for something like this. I also decreased the amount of cream a little bit and I like to play with the types of cheese I use for topping - mostly depending on what I have on hand. The other change I made was that I really love using the corn tortillas for this now. I can't tell you enough how ridiculously easy and delicious these enchiladas are.

I first saw this recipe made by Melanie (who made some changes to it), Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe got it from Brittany (The Sister's Cafe which is a GREAT blog by the way), and Brittany got a version of it from a friend who brought it to her after she had her baby. Now, I give you my Good Things Utah version, as well as the links to all the others (just click on the various blogger in this paragraph to find the recipe versions.

That is really the great thing about this recipe. It is so flexible to change and still turns out such fantastic results! Confusing? My point is that you can adapt this and have a great time doing it and still have great results. Don't believe me? Well...

Imagine my surprise and thrill when I tuned in for GTU this morning and Nicea mentioned that she made these enchiladas for her family last night and that she adapated the recipe for them a bit too (she subbed the heavy cream with some half-and-half to make it a little less decadent) and that they still turned out great.

I had someone in the studio audience ask me what else you could substitute to make them healthier and I had to chuckle at myself a little bit when after she asked me, and I paused and said, "well, just leave the cream out altogether." I chuckled because I didn't remember at first, but, I believe Melanie made the addition of the cream in the first place. This is one chameleon of a recipe!

We got to talk with Nicea and Reagan on the show and they were both amazing! I have to tell you, these gals look great on TV, but even better in person! I was in awe of how put together and awesome they were! Thanks again to both Nicea and Reagan for having us and for making us feel so comfortable!


In my humble opinion, the best compliment you can get on a recipe is when someone actually makes it! I am so glad that the ladies at GTU loved it as much as I do!

One thing I didn't get to mention on air either was the fact that the substitution of using corn tortillas for the enchiladas instead of flour actually came from my sister, Michelle. The first time I ever made these enchiladas was with my neices, Miranda and Brit, when they were visiting here. Those are the original "Rock Your World" version already here on my blog. We all loved them and were floored by how good they are. I told my neices I would try to give them a shout out on the show if I could, but frankly, I was so discombobulated just trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing that I didn't get to. Therefore, I told them they would get the shout out here in writing instead! Hi girls! Love ya!

My Good Things Utah experience was not only a good thing (see how I did that... I'm just so clever - snerk) - it was a GREAT thing!

The producers, staff, cameramen, and especially the hostesses at Good Things Utah are simply wonderful. There really isn't another word to describe them. Even though I was nervous just by the new experience of being on live TV (or any TV for that matter) they made me feel so comfortable that it went a whole lot better than I hoped it would.

HUGE Thanks go out to all the crew and hostesses over at Good Things Utah for having us on the show and for just being so wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you! (And for all my foodie friends, did you know that they make a recipe on there pretty much EVERY DAY and there are video links and recipe links to them on their site? Yeah, I thought that might get your attention!)

The only problem was that there just wasn't enough time to talk about all the things I wanted to. We talked about food blogging in general and about the recipe and a bit about what we do on a food blog, but we just ran out of time before we could get into all the things I hoped too.

They showed the front page of my blog several times though which had a great link to The Hive and I have already had several requests to join The Hive blog as well as the group on Facebook. So, even though we didn't get to spend time talking about The Hive once we cleared up the issue of what this food blogging thing is all about, we certainly seem to have succeeded in getting the word out about our little group!



I also gave away a copy of my favorite baking book of all time - Baking From My Home To Yours (I talked about Tuesdays with Dorie too - it was great!) to a great lady in the studio audience who had to answer a food related trivia question that Reagan, one of the hostesses, had to come up with since yours truly was in such a dither still that I couldn't come up with jack!



SO. After all those fun pictures. Now you can even watch us on Good Things Utah (and please do because poor Becky was blocked in the picture to the right from this angle and she looked great too, so you really need to see!) - HERE IS THE VIDEO LINK TO THE INTERVIEW! Here is a little link to the story.

By the way, the videos are kind of small but when I did a right-click I was able to go full screen.

AND. Here is the recipe link for my take on the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas that I made on the show - which you can watch THE VIDEO LINK TO THE COOKING SEGMENT HERE.


BUT. Before you run off and check it out, make sure you come back, because you see those seriously cute aprons we were wearing? Yeah. I thought you did. Well... drum roll......

My good friends over at
Bloom-n-Blush
have decided to throw down some fantastic deals for my readers and Good Things Utah viewers.......

They are going to giveaway an apron. Not just any apron though. Whichever one the winner chooses from their website. That's right. You get to pick.

Here is the thing about this fantastic company. These aprons are all unique because they are made with care and love, one by one. No manufacturing here. You see that pretty fringe-y stuff on Reagan's apron? Yeah. It is delicate stuff. The heart pockets are stitched on with skill and care. They use only the highest quality materials and fabrics and have so many seriously fun varieties.

So, do you want to know how you can win? Of course you do!

GIVEAWAY ENTRY RULES
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT FOR EACH ITEM YOU COMPLETE!

You've got up to five chances to enter here! Good luck! Mr. Random.org will be doing the drawing - you've got until midnight (MST) on March 18, 2009 to enter!

1. Go to Bloom-n-Blush ( http://www.bloomnblush.com/ ), and sign up for their newsletter. Then look around their website and come back here and tell me you are going to get the newsletter and tell me what item on their website you would most want to win.

2. Subscribe to PheMOMenon via email or reader (links in the left bar), then tell me you did. If you already do, well, great, that counts so let me know.

3. Follow PheMOMenon on Twitter. Link is right over there on the side bar. If you already do, that counts so leave me a comment.

4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave me a comment that you did.

5. Blog about the giveaway - please include a link to both PheMOMenon ( http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/ ) Bloom-n-Blush ( http://www.bloomnblush.com/ ) ! (I am even posting a picture of one of their darling aprons below that you can use on your post - yes, it happens to be my personal favorite!)
Now, as if all those chances weren't enough, we all realize that a lot of you are going to want one of these spectacular aprons (did I tell you they have bags too? Yeah. I know!) the ladies over at Bloom-n-Blush want to make it even easier for you to get an apron for you, your mom, your grandma, your daughter, your sister, your best friend, or whoever - so here is some more good news:

For the same time as the contest, if you make a purchase from Bloom-n-Blush you get free shipping in the Continental U.S. and Canada - so get your order in before midnight (MST) on March 18th!

That's not all though - you can also use the discount code: GTU (as in Good Things Utah) as an extra thank you (and if you don't already watch the show, then you should) to get an extra $10 off your purchase now through midnight (MST), April 30, 2009!

Good luck! I can't wait to hear what you all pick out from their site!

-------------------------------------------------------------

On a related note, I have had a few requests on how to find the other recipes I mentioned on the show. Here are links to both the Jicama & Black Bean Salad Lindsey made and the Gooey Coconut Dream Bars I made a while ago and mentioned during the show. Enjoy!