Banana Bread and Cinnamon Sugar Muffins!

Happy Halloween everyone! Tonight I really felt like baking, so I made banana bread and cinnamon sugar muffins!

I used the book Teens Cook: How To Cook What You Want to Eat, By Megan Carle, Jill Carle, Judi Carle to make the banana bread!


All the ingredients.


Cream the butter and sugar together, than add the eggs!


Mix in the bananas!


Add in the salt, baking soda, flour, and pecans!


And look what you get in an hours time! ^_^

Cinnamon muffin time!!

I got the recipe from this website: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/eatmycharlotte/2010/08/11/cinnamon-sugar-donut-muffins/


All the ingredients!


All the dry in one bowl, and all the wet in another!


Mix the dry into the wet until just combined!


Put them in a greased muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes!


Nom!


Cover them in butter, cinnamon, and sugar!!


Then eat!!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!! : )

Loooove,

Lizzie!

Starbucks...

... Makes nummy snacks! : P



Pssst, I make better coffee cake though! ; )

Love,

Lizzie!

Cooking and Baking class! : )

Here's a recap on my cooking class on Wednesday and my baking class on Thursday! ^_^

So on cooking class this week we did a section on chickens! We all had to make sauce, and then partway cook our chicken over the broiler and then finish it in the oven! The chef really liked mine, he said I had a good balance of colors. : )



We also made side salads with our own salad dressings. Mine was made with apple cider vinegar and olive oil!

My friend K is so cute! : )


The chef really liked her chicken plate too! *hive five!* We're getting better! : )

Then Thursday, in baking class, we made each made pastry cream, and then different cream pies, rice puddings, or creme brulees.


Vanilla, chocolate, and chocolate strawberry creme brulees!


Banana Cream pie! Yummy, so good! : )


My pumpkin pie!

I made three extra pies, and my chef liked them so much she gave them away as bribes. ; )

I will post some recipes soon!

Night!

Love,

Lizzie!

Moose Antlers?

Hey everyone! Today's Pastry Tube art class went a lot better then last week! This week we pipped chocolate into moose antlers to go on the top of some cupcakes our school is going to try and sell for the holiday bazzar that is coming up! The chef needed it to get done, and aha since we are in pastry tube art, and they get pipped out, we got the task of getting the job done! x0







Yay for moose antlers!!

We went through so many pastry bags made with parchment paper, and the chocolate was so hot I'm sure none of us have fingertips anymore!!





The chef had to break done about three giant slabs of chocolate to get the job done!

Finally after two hours of pipping, the chef got out some cookies from the freezer, dipped them in the leftover chocolate, and sent us on our way! : )



^_^

Lizzie!

Lunch with a friend!

So the past three days, I have gone out to eat lunch at three different places, but with the same friend!

On Sunday, we went to Gulliver's Book Store, which is this amazing bookstore with a cafe upstairs. We both got pesto turkey wraps, and cinnamon spice lattes which are like Starbucks Pumpkin spice lattes, but ten times better!

On Monday, we went to a little coffee shop near my culinary school where we split a garlic pizza with artichokes and tomatoes, and she got a white chocolate mocha, and I got an iced vanilla latte. Then for dessert, she had an amazing piece of tirimisu she let me have a few bits of, and I had yummy creme brulee!



Finally, today for lunch we went to Sourdough Sam's Cafe! She had an omelet, hash browns, and biscuits with gravy, and I had a blueberry creme with a side of hash browns!


(Nom! Yay for whipped cream! ^_^ )

Then, for dessert we both had warm pecan pie with vanilla ice cream!

I was so happy to spend three days of a row with this amazing friend and am going to miss her so much!!

xoxo,

Lizzie!

Past Two Weeks!

Hey, hey everyone! Woo it's been a hectic, but good past two weeks! Two Wednesdays ago, we made cooked a lot of different foods using moist heat methods. We boiled chicken and poached shrimp, braised beef in a pan, and then finished it by baking it in the oven, and cooked fish in paper and oil in the oven. Then, each group had a side dish to prepare, and our group made apple cabbage by boiling apples and cabbage together with cider, white wine, and water! Then at the end we all tasted each others dishes, it was a lot of fun!

On Thursday, we had our baking midterm! First, we had a written midterm, with 50 questions, and then we had the practical were we each had to make chocolate chip cookies, cranberry citrus muffins, and flaky pie dough. We had 45 minutes to set up or Mise en place all of our ingredients and equipment, and then 2 and a half hours to bake everything! I made my pie dough first, and let it cool for 30 minutes. While it was cooling I made up my muffins, then took out the pie dough, and put the muffins in the oven. While the muffins were cooking I rolled out my pie dough and let it blind bake. When the muffins and pie dough were finished I began working on the cookies, and baked them. I was finished exactly at the end of our 2 and a half hours! I had to wait around to talk to the chefs, but I cleaned and did a lot of dishes. When they finally talked to me they said my pie dough was almost perfect, just a little too thins, and that I make perfectly shaped and identical products, I just need to work on not mixing too much!

On Friday and Saturday, I worked at Coldstones and had a blast, like I always do! ^_^

Then on last Tuesday I had Intro and Sanitation. We are now on the math section, and boy was everyone confused! Our short quiz took about 45 minutes! Basic math is so much harder then pre calc! x0 Later that night at Pastry Tube art we were supposed to make pipped mashed potatoes, but halfway through the class it got really stressful and let's just say not very fun. I just hope tomorrow is a lot better! ^_^

On Wednesday, we had our Culinary 1 midterm! It was 100 questions of doom! I think I did pretty good though, because I only felt confused on a few questions! Then in the kitchen we worked on our knife cuts and cut onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, carrots, basil, and more!

Then, on Thursday, we got our scores back from our written midterm, and I got a B minus! I'm sad it's not higher, but I'm so happy it isn't lower! We then talked about what we think our classes need to be better, and then in the kitchen we worked on making muffins, biscuits, and pie dough. My pie dough was perfect, but It didn't bake properly because the ovens kept getting open and shut over and over. My muffins still were a little overmixed, but they were better then the ones I made on my midterm, and my biscuits were nice and buttery, yet a little underdone!

On Friday and Saturday I worked at Coldstone and made myself a nice mix of white chocolate ice cream, oreos, chocolate fudge, and peanut butter cups, yum! I'm going to be sooo sad when we stop making White Chocolate ice cream! I can't wait for dark chocolate mint, and pumpkin though! ^_^

On Sunday I had lunch with my friend J and then that night my brother and some of his friends, and I, ordered Chinese food, and I got the greatest fortune ever! It said: "The Great Wall Didn't Got Build In One Day!" ... Didn't got build. Ahhh I love it. x0

Finally today, Monday, I had lunch with my friend J again, and we split a amazing pizza and both had coffee and desset. I had creme Brulle and she had tirimisu. We each had a few bites of each others and it was so good! I can't wait to go back to that coffee place! Then, when I checked my mail today I got my: HELLO KITTY TOASTER! : ) It is supposed to make hello kittys face on the toast, I hope it works, I will have to test it in the morning!

Well there was my looong recap of the past few weeks in my life of Culinary and just good food! I will try to get some pictures up soon and not go so long without posting! I had to keep studying for my Sanitation midterm tomorrow!

So, love you all lots!

Lizzie!

Recap and Cute Foodie Stuff! : )

Hey guys! I haven't posted in a week because my camera has gone missing! : ( So I will recap with words! ; )

On Wednesday, we cooked chicken and zucchini three different ways. We baked the chicken covered, and uncovered in the oven, and roasted one on the grill and we sauteed, grilled, and deep fried the zucchini. I loved the grilled and friend zucchini, but I felt like my sauteed zucchini was just too salty!

In my baking class on Thursday we made different fruit pies. We made flaky and mealy pie doughs, chilled them, and then rolled them out and either baked them whole or blind baked them and then baked them with filling. My group made fresh apple pie, and other groups made peach, blueberry, and quiche! I loooved the blueberry pie the best! : )

This weekends food fun was when I checked my mail and I got a piece of paper saying my dad had gotten me a subscription to the Food Network Magazine! Thanks daddy! : ) Also, I got four boxes of Clif Bars from my mom! I love you guys!! : )

Now today in Pastry Tube Art, we pipped out eclairs and puff pastries and made whip cream. It was a fun process, but I didn't really enjoy them because of the liquor that was added to the cream! x0

Since my recap is over, let's move on to today! While searching Fredflare.com today I found even more foodie stuff I would love to own! : )


Squeee! A doughnut pillow! Super cute!


I love this recipe box, super adorable! ^_^


Hello Kitty AND candy? It's a win, win situation!


An ice cream kitchen timer will make waiting for baked goods even more fun!

Well I'm off to study for my baking midterm, and my quiz for cooking tomorrow! Love you all!!

Lizzie! ^_^

Gingersnap Cookies!

Woo gingersnaps! In Pastry Tube Art today we broke into groups and each made a recipe. Two groups made butter cookies, one made lemon drops, and my partner and I made gingersnaps!





Yay so pretty! : )

Oooh and I got my whole chef uniform in! We got two jackets, three pairs of pants, two aprons, and two floppy hats!



FLOPPY HAT! : P

Haha so overall it was a fun pastry tube art class!

So to end this random gingersnap post... here's me in a floppy hat eating a gingersnap, yay! : P

Drama Rama!

When life gives you lemons... eat giant ice cream sundaes. ; )



Thanks for making me feel better Steven! : )

Smore Brownies! : )

Hey everyone! I woke up wanting to bake! I really wanted to make coffee cake, or pecan bars, but they both call for a ridiculous amount of brown sugar, and I have barley a 1/3 of a cup left! The bus doesn't run here on Sundays so I couldn't go to the store to pick and up so I looked at my baking shelf to she what I had. I had chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows, which equaled one thing, smore's! : )

I hunted online for a great smore brownie recipe and here is what I found:
http://foodietwoshoes.com/wordpress/2009/09/11/a-last-summer-treat/

I changed it up a bit to go with what I like, so with further ado here are some amazing smore brownies!

CRUST:

~ 6 whole graham crackers, broken into small pieces
~ 3 tablespoons sugar
~ 3 tablespoons butter, melted

BROWNIES:

~ 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
~ 1/ 3 cup dark chocolate chips (I used two dark chocolate bars)
~ 8 tablespoons butter, melted
~ 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa powder)
~ 3 large eggs
~ 1 ¼ cups sugar
~ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
~ ½ teaspoon salt
~ 1 cup all-purpose flour

TOPPING:

~ Marshmallows (I used full sized ones)

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your pan with parchment paper (allowing edges to extend over sides). First, melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then remove the bowl and put your graham crackers in a bag and squish them into crumbs. Add the crumbs, and the sugar to the melted butter bowl and then mix together until moist crumbs form. Press crumbs evenly onto the parchment paper in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake crust until light golden brown, about eight minutes.

2) In a heatproof bowl melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave until smooth. Remove and stir in the cocoa powder until combined. Set aside to cool.

3) In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt, and strip until combined. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated. Then stir in the flour until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, about 40 minutes.

(Ready to go in the oven!)

(The messy dishes I washed while they were baking!)

While the brownies were baking, I washed up my dishes and looked over my new dorm kitchen. This one was bigger than my other one, and it had a lot of cute signs everywhere!

(Ahhh they are all so cute!)

(Before the marshmallows were toasted)

4) When they are finished baking, remove the pan from the oven, and preheat the oven to broil. Top the brownies with the marshmallows, making an even layer. Place the pan on the rack and make sure your are paying attention! I put them in for about 1 minute, and they caught on fire! I had to turn the oven off, fan them down, and blow on them to get the fire out! The whole time I was like plllllease fire alarm don't go off, PLEASE! x0 Haha so I'd say they only need about 30 seconds, perhaps, crack the door open and just watch them! As soon as the marshmallows have a nice brown crust, remove them from the oven. Let cool completely before attempting to remove from pan and cutting.

Tada! The finished result! (after I scrapped off the burnt marshmallows and parchment paper! x0 )

They were pretty awesome in my opinion! The slight burntness in some of the bites really made me think of a real campfire! I had a lot of fun making these, but I lost a few years of my life in fear of burning down my dorm! Watch the marshmallows! Xp

Love you all!!

Lizzie!

PS: Marshmallows make everyone happy. While I was baking about 4 boys came in going oooh I smelled these all the way from the 5th floor! Ahhh the power of baking! ; )

I want x, y, and z... oh and extra chocolate chips! X0

Haha I LOVE working at Coldstone's! I went in today at about 11:45 and was shown around the store a little more, and at noon I was thrown into making waffle cones! I mixed up the batter and made about ten cones, when the customers starting coming in, and it didn't end! I scooped ice cream, made milkshakes and smoothies, rang up cake orders, washed out blenders, and rang up customers over and over! When I finally was able to look at the clock, it was past 5! I was having so much fun, that I didn't even notice five hours had gone by! Other people found it stressful, but I thought it was pretty fun, and exciting! I can't wait to work again!

PS. All the kids who come in are so cute, it is always almost like this though! x0


Love,

Lizzie! : )