Baked Pimento Cheese Dip

This weekend the entire family is at my mom's house to celebrate Mother's Day. My sister is down for a visit from NYC, so it's extra special that we can all get together. My mom used it as a reason to make this yummy dip. I'm keeping it in mind for any future pot lucks. The fact that we all liked it best at room temperature means I can make it ahead.



Baked Pimento Cheese Dip
from Southern Living

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 (12-oz.) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and chopped
1/4 cups chopped green onions
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 (8-oz.) block extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (8-oz.) block pepper Jack cheese, shredded

Served with pita and tortilla chips

1) Stir together first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add cheeses and stir.
2) Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish.
3) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

This is best eaten at room temperature.

twd ~ Cornbread Shortbread Cookies

I've been utterly slack with twd lately. The weather has been perfect...that ideallyic time down South when he warm and breezy, before the humidity sets in. I made a resolution to make this week's selection regardless of how hard or time consuming. Thankfully it was neither. It was Monday night before I got around to making it, nothing like a deadline to light a fire under me, and didn't have a lemon or any citrus. Divergence one.

Monday after work. I had stopped for a quick workout at the gym, then booked it home for a quick shower before a friend picked me up. Since the dough had to chill, I decided to make it during the 30 minutes I had to get ready. I usually don't take very long, but that's stretching it a little. Hurrying, I accidnetally read the sugar amount for the cornmeal amount and dumped in twice as much cornmeal as needed. Divergence two.

To try and correct this, I added a couple of extra tablespoons of butter. Divergence three.




Hmm, I wasn't sure how these would turn out at all. I stuck the dough in the frig, in a nice little ziplock baggie, and crossed my fingers hoping for the best. Three hours later, I popped a few little squares in the oven; just a few for pictures and tasting. The rest of the dough will stay until Wednesday night, and get baked up for my sister's visit on Thursday.

These were delicious! Even with the extra cornmeal. I had two tasters and they both loved these. The cornmeal adds a lovely texture that adds that something I always find missing from shortbread. Added bonus - no eggs! No eggs = guilt free cookie dough :)

twd ~ Pecan Puffs

I'm a week behind with this one, but I couldn't resist.

As a kid, I loved the Danish wedding cookies from the grocery store that came in the pepto-pink bag.

These remind me of those - except, of course, Dorie has made them better.

Glazed Carrot and Spinach Soup

I find it really hard to get a good picture of soup. Especially this one, because it has a little butter which creates a lovely sheen on the surface. This lovely sheen means that it reflects light, and ends up looking like a little puddle of swamp water in pictures. But believe me, in real life, it looks just like it tastes - delicious!

I know this soup is destined to become part of my regular repertoire, if I ever form one that is.

First of all, it's a carrot soup. Carrots are that thing I always have in my refrigerator. It's usually a very lonely bag of mini, ready-to-eat carrots lying in the produce drawer in their plastic bag, one corner unceremoniously ripped off. I munch and crunch them standing in the kitchen, leaning on a counter while trying to figure out what's for dinner.

Secondly, it's a glazed carrot soup. The butter and honey add just a little sweetness, balanced by the cayenne, black pepper, salt, and stock. Yum!

Third, it's pretty healthy and light, while being thick and rather creamy. The added spinach gives a little extra goodness. It's good hot and cold.

Glazed Carrot and Spinach Soup

*adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

1 1/2 lbs carrots, sliced

2 Tbs butter

1 tsp honey

salt, black pepper, and cayenne

6 cups vegetable stock (or 6 cups water and 2 vegetable bullion cubes)

cream to top (optional)

1) Put the carrots, butter, 3/4 cup water, and honey in a large saucepan on high heat. Add salt and peppers and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for about five minutes.

2) Uncover and increase heat to high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the carrots are cooking in the butter. Reduce heat and cook until the carrots are tender.

3) Add stock and stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until it thickens slightly (about 10 minutes).

4) Puree soup, either using an immersion or regular blender. Serve hot or chilled, with a teaspoon of cream on top if desired.

twd ~ Honey Nut Brownies

Thanks to Suzy of Suzy Homemaker for this week's pick!

These brownies are all about the honey!
The honey makes them very dense and very sweet. It overplays the chocolate a bit. I used pecans for the nuts, and loved them. You definitely need nuts in these.
These were good straight out of the oven, but better the next day when the flavors seemed to have mixed and mellowed a bit more.

twd ~ Citrus Fig Sunshine Muffins

Lauryn of Bella Baker picked these week's twd recipe - Citrus Current Sunshine Muffins! As you can tell from the title of this post, I did a little substituting. I actually played around with these more than usual.



To begin with, I used vegetable oil instead of butter. I didn't read ahead to the "butter, melted and cooled" and didn't have time once I started mixing the other ingredients. Okay, I really didn't have the patience. I left out the lemon juice and extract because I didn't have it, and didn't quite have enough orange juice. I added a couple tablespoons of wheat germ, a couple of figs, a tablespoon of raspberry preserves, some chopped pecans, and a little agave. Everything but the kitchen sink!

So how did they turn out...delicious! They are a little on the dry side, but very grainy and good. The orange taste comes through nicely, but isn't overpowering at all.

twd ~ Corniest Corn Muffins

March has sprung it's madness already.
Fights breaking out outside my office building just when I'm sneaking out for a mid-day coffee.
Unfriendly people suddenly becoming friendly.
Friendly people becoming stressed and jumpy.
It's all very strange.

Which is kind of what happened with these muffins. I made them at the end of February, and tasted one as soon as it was cool. Delicious! Especially with a little butter and honey slathered on. But a couple of days later, when March rolled in, I bit into a muffin to discover that the kernels had morphed from crunchy yellow spots to hard, chewy blots. Now I know a muffin two days old isn't going to taste as good. I was expecting that, but these had done something funny with the kernels.

So I just put more butter and more honey on them and noshed away.



I love corny things, and used stoneground meal and frozen corn kernels. Somehow I ended up with lopsided tops.



Thanks to Jill of My Next Life for a great pick this week!

twd ~ Toasted Almond Scones

Mike of Living Out West was the lucky twd'er that got to choose this week.



I quartered the recipe and ended up with four little cutie scones. I used all milk, no cream, and somehow ended up with a very sticky, wet dough. I added a couple of tablespoons of wheat flour and crossed my fingers, hoping for the best!

These were delicious! They aren't very sweet, which I really like in a scone. The toasted almond taste is wonderful! I wasn't sure these were going to be worth the trouble, but they definitely are. And, actually, they aren't that much trouble. I forgot all about these, all weekend, and remembered Monday night at 10pm. They were done by 10:30 and waiting in a little box for breakfast! Yum!

Happy Birthday Java Jive!

My sweet Mom came up on Saturday to pick me up on the way to my grandmother's house. We had planned that nice noon pick-up would be good, so I could sleep in. Which is exactly what happened...I slept until the phone rang at exactly 12:00. Oops! But what a better way to get a late start to the day than brunch??

And what place in Atlanta has better biscuits than Java Jive? None, as far as I'm concerned. They are the best!

Little did we know that it was Java Jive's 17th birthday! So they shared the love and brought us these cute little 17 chocolate shortbread cookies after our tofu and egg scrambles. Ahh, thank you Java Jive...all meals are better when ended with a little something sweet!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAVA JIVE!!!!

twd ~ Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

A big thank you to Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us for this week’s twd pick! These were amazing! One of the reasons I love baking along is that I make things I otherwise wouldn’t. Kugelhopf anyone? Or how about Cottage Cheese Pufflets?

Usually, I like what I make. There’s a rarely a time when I don’t, and then you can make a safe bet that I messed up the recipe somehow. But very rarely will I actually make things again, not when there are so many new recipes and old favorites. These however, are going into the old favorites file very quickly!

I knew I would like these just looking at the ingredient list. I love chocolate cookies with oats, and these have both cocoa and melted chocolate. Very chocolaty! They have a great texture, crispy on the outside like chocolate chip cookies, but very fudgy in the middle. I took them to a Super Bowl party and they disappeared pretty quickly. It was hard keeping my spoon out of the dough! These are delish pre-baked and baked!

Homemade Bread Take 1: Simple Oatmeal Bread

The other weekend I put in a few hours at an annual fundraiser sale put on by my Junior League. I noticed a West Bend bread machine that no one had picked up. By the end of the day, it was still there - and discounted 75%. Well, that sealed the deal. I took it home for $2.50.

A woman who works next door let me borrow her book. This is my first attempt. I didn't use bread flour, which has more protein and gluten, just regular ol' all-purpose flour and I think the taste will improve a lot with bread flour. It was still good, especially toasted with a nice slathering of butter.



Simple Oatmeal Bread, adapted from Bread Machine Baking by Lora Brody & Millie Apter

2/3 water
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons molasses
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 old-fashoined oats
1 1/2 white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Monkey Bread

Weekend before last I headed down to Auburn, AL, and ran the Auburn Classic Half Marathon. Virtually all course descriptions say something about rolling hills and "fast course." I was hoping it was going to hold true in this case because I had only run once in the preceeding two weeks. Well, I don't think going up 830+ feet and down 840+ qualifies as rolling. I would even say very hilly. But hey, I did a personal best so I can't complain too much.

Since Auburn is only a short hour from where I grew up, I headed over to my mom's house after the race. I knew just how great of an idea this was when I stepped into the house and smelled something....cinnamonny and delicious! She made me Monkey Bread!

It was just half a recipe of biscuit dough dipped in sugar and cinnamon, layered in a loaf pan and drizzled with a mixture of melted butter and sugar. YUM! I have to say it was just half, since it completely disappeared that day. No leftover monkey bread. It's just not as good the next day. ;)

twd ~ Great Grains Muffins

Thanks to Christine of Happy Tummy for the great pick this week! This was one that I had highlighted as a possible pick for my turn. I didn't end of picking it, so I'm very excited to get the chance to make it now.

I hardly ever make a full recipe for twd. Since we bake every week, I like to downsize the servings by at least half, usually by three-quarters. But this week, I made the full recipe because I knew I was going to love these!



As much as I did love these, I would like them grainier. I can't pick out the oats at all, though the cornmeal adds a nice, subtle taste. I love prunes so this gave me a great excuse to buy them.

In the cookbook, Dorie's picture shows the muffin with a nice chunk of (what looks like) cheddar cheese. I haven't tried that yet, but I think it'll be great!

twd ~ Nutty, Chocolately, Swirly, Sour Cream Cake

This week's post is chosen by Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort.

This cake knocked my socks off! It was a very pleasant surprise.

The name intrigued me, but also made me a little wary. Nutty, chocolately, swirly, and sour cream all in a bundt cake? Sounded high maintenance. But it turned to be very simple.

I substituted yogurt for the sour cream, and went heavy on the swirl spices, nuts, and chocolate chips that get layered in the batter. I quartered the recipe and baked it in a mini loaf pan. It was the perfect amount.

It smells lovely baking! Not just normal baking good, but licking the air good. It's an incredibly moist cake with a nice crispy top. I put in two layers of swirl. Perhaps I was being dense tonight, but I didn't quite understand Dorie's directions for making an indentation in the batter with the back of a spoon in the middle of the bundt cake pan...don't bundt cake pans have a hollow center? So I just did two layers - simple and it got the job done.

twd ~ Tangerine Muffins

Thanks to Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness for this week's TWD pick. I was happy to see the muffins on the list amid all the chocolate cookies and cakes this month. It's nice to have something a little different.



Keeping with that thought, I took a few liberities with the recipe. I used tangerines instead of lemons because 1) that's what I had and 2) I was curious how they would turn out. My grandmother gave me a loaf of Lemon Poppyseed Bread at Christmas that is still sitting in the fridge. I also didn't use poppy seeds at all. I didn't want to buy them because I simply don't understand them. My mom LOVES poppy seedy things - bagles and muffins and breads. She loves poppy seeds. But to me, they don't have much taste, look like little dead bugs, and get stuck in people's teeth.



So no seeds - except those in the raspberry jam that I used to fill the center of each muffin. On top, lots and lots of sugar + tangerine juice drizzle! Putting it on reminded me of making Pilsbury Orange Danish rolls as a kid. Only, these are much better. They are more like little cakes than hearty muffins. Really good.

Onion and Mushroom White Pizza

The other day I stopped by Smitten Kitchen, and saw her pizza with onion, bacon, and cream. It put homemade pizza in my mind. My plan was to use store bought pizza dough because it's easier and I was already hungry on my way home tonight. When I didn't find any there, I decided to wing it.

I combined white flour and whole wheat flour (two heaping serving spoons of each), added a pinch of salt and a half-spoonful of baking powder (aw, my precise measurements) and combined. Then I added water until it came together in a dough. I kneaded it a few times, rolled it out, and put it on the pan to rest.

Then I combined equal amounts of ricotta cheese and...ahem...french onion dip. The original recipe calls for sour cream, which I didn't have. Then I added salt and pepper and stired until nice and creamy. This mixture gets spread onto the dough.



Next, I sauteed one small onion, two cloves of garlic, and some portabella mushroom slices in olive oil until the onions caramelized. These get placed on top of the cheesy mixture. Then the pizza goes in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. This was very good with a glass of Malbec! Enough for two, but of course I finished off most of it myself.

SunO Dessert

I first heard about SunO from Scoutmob. I'll skip over how much I love Scoutmob, and say that the write-up intrigued me. Shaved ice made from condensed milk...what? I don't know about ya'll, but it sounded very good to me!

Turns out, SunO is on my way home from work, now that my office moved in mid-December. I pass it everyday! Tonight, even though Atlanta has had more than it's fair share of snow and freezing temps this week, I was craving a frozen treat - ice cream, froyo, the real tangy frozen yogurt...something. So I decided to stop at SunO and give it a try.

At first, I was a little overwhelmed with all the pretty menu choices: wheel pies, crepes, custards, bubble teas, powders, caramels, syrups, red beans - the list goes on of all the things to mix and match to make your own creation. It being way too cold outside, I wasn't too surprised to be the only one there, but I didn't want to stand and stare blankly at the menu too long. I sampled the mango, which was a little odd to me, but I know I can be picky with fruity dessert. So I went with the plain chocolate and it was great! The small was $1, and I had to ask the cashier twice "how much? really?" When has any good ice cream been a dollar? Wow. That makes it even more dangerous as a potential stop-off after work; it's good and it's cheap.

It's also very light and fluffy, which makes me feel like it's not as bad for me as regular ice cream. The consistency did take a second to get used to, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Next time, I might have to go for one of the fancy ones with cookie crumbles.

Great American Cookie Snickerdoodles

Today I ran the Red Nose Half Marathon with two wonderful friends. It was a first for one of them and she totally rocked it! I'm so proud.

A plus to this race is that it takes place in my hometown, so I got to spend a little time with my sweet mom. She made Snickerdoodles for after the race, and they came out perfectly! Soft and chewy. She used a recipe that I pulled off the internet 10+ years ago when I was in high school. It makes the best Snickerdoodles I've had yet, and is based on a recipe from the Great American Cookie place.

Snickerdoodles
makes 16-18 cookies

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1) Cream the butter and sugars on high
2) Add egg and vanilla, and beat until smooth
3) Combine flour, salt, baking sod, and cream of tartar in another bowl
4) Pour dry into wet ingredients and mix well
5) Preheat over to 300 degrees
6) Refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes
7) Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl
8) Take 2 1/2 Tbsp of dough and roll into ball
9) Roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture
10) Bake 12-14 minutes

Happy New Year! twd ~ Midnight Crackles

Thanks to Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone’s In the Kitchen who chose Midnight Crackles for the anniversary recipe. TWD is three years old and still going strong! Thanks to Laurie for starting it, and to everyone whose comments and blog posts have made this a wonderful experience for me. Bring it on 2011!

Now to the recipe. I'm very curious to see how these turned out for everyone else. Mine came out rather cake-like - very thick for a cookie and not at all chewy or crispy. I made the dough before Christmas, and put it in the freezer for a few days. When I took it out to bake, the dough was very hard, so hard there was no scooping or shaping involved. It was more breaking and beating into the semblance of a circle.

Baked up these are good, but there's something that makes me look at them askew. Are these little cakes in cookie clothing? I can't quite put my finger on it, but something is odd. I spiced these up, adding the "Playing Around" suggestions of ginger and coriander. Perhaps it's the ginger + chocolate combo that's throwing me off. I've still got dough in the freezer, so I'll play around with next batch, make them smaller and thinner and bake them less time.

For all those making resolutions - Good Luck!

Knit Coffee Sleeve

Tuesday is one of my dearest friend's birthday. We've known each other since Kindergarten; accompanied each other through elementary, the wider halls of middle school, the exciting times of high school, and even into the dorms at college. Everytime we get together there is so much to talk and laugh about that we usually end up having lunch for four hours, or closing down the coffee shop.

As a little gift, I made this coffee sleeve. She's a Starbucks fan. Seriously. She's there everyday, and even attended her favorite barista's wedding.

It's a simple horseshoe cable pattern with a knit border. This is my first cable work, and was surprisingly easy (and quick). Here's the pattern:

CO 20 sts
Row 1: k20
Row 2: k4, p12, k4
Row 3: k20
Row 4: k4, p12, k4
Row 5: k4, c6b*, c6f**, k4
Row 6: k4, p12, k4
Row 7: k20
Row 8: k4, p12, k4
Row 9: k20
Row 10: k4, p12, k4

Repeat 10 rows until you reach the desired size, i.e. the circumference of the cup. BO and stitch ends together.

*c6b = slip 3 sts to cable needle, hold to back, k3 then k3 from cable needle
**c6F = slip 3 sts to cable needle, hold to front, k3 then k3 from cable needle