Aloo Timatar

...otherwise know as, "Potato and Tomato Curry with Cilantro," a popular Indian dish from the north Hindu region. Indian cooking has always been a challenge in DD's kitchen. DD would order take out from the best local Indian restaurant in town rather than experience another kitchen blunder. Thanks to KS, DD's sister, equipped with an excellent cookbook and authentic spices made ALL the difference; that, and cooking together! For this fine home cooked Indian meal, KS, GD, & DD joined forces and rose to the occasion, GD's birthday! So to you I recommend, Madhhur Jaffrey's from curries to kebabs recipes from the indian spice trail. Raita, a yogurt relish, is a wonderful accompaniment to spicy Indian food. This dish recommends a cucumber, mint and tomato raita. Absolutely refreshing! And to your garlic naan, don't forget to sprinkle a little olive oil over top prior to heating. Enjoy!

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin

Once upon a time restaurant owners, who just happened to be sisters, had a little kitchen blunder. Someone forgot to line the pie dish BEFORE adding the filling. An on the spot creative moment produced what we now know today as, Tarte Tatin. The apples caramelize in the sugar and butter. The pastry, surprisingly placed on top of the filling remains flaky and light. And the presentation is sensational. The tart is flipped to make it appear as usual; crust on bottom and decadently caramelized apples on top! Truly sensational! The recipe DD follows is from Cook's Illustrated. A variation with winter pears and crystallized ginger is a delicious twist!

Happy 90th!

My friend Nicole's grandma is turing 90 tomorrow and they're putting on a surprise birthday for her today! I was delighted to help Nicole decide what kind of cupcakes to make and how we should frost them! Nicole also made this great cupcake tray from a tutorial over at Annie Eats.

We decided to make three kinds of cupcakes mini and full size-Vanilla with Buttercream, Chocolate with Buttercream, and the finale cupcake: Pumpkin with a Cream Cheese Frosting. Needless to say the Pumpkin with Cream Cheese were the best! But the others were just as awesome! I hope she is surprised!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

My little brother Steve just graduated from high school this past summer and is now attending Dartmouth...hence the tiny little flags I made by hand with the Darthmouth "D" on them! He's a smart little brother and we're all very proud of him. For his graduation party I was enlisted to make about 125 cupcakes as part of the dessert spread. Steve is allergic to dairy so we made vegan cupcakes. For this party we did vanilla cupcakes with chocolate chocolate frosting. And on the other side we did chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting! The chocolate peanut butter combination was definitely the hit! Delicious! Do not hesitate to try just because I left out the beloved ingredient...aka butter. We'll make up for it in a later post!

Chocolate Cupcakes

if you want to make them vanilla-leave out the cocoa and double the vanilla.

1 1/2 C flour

3 T cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 C white sugar

1/2 t salt

1 C cold water

5 T oil

1 T vinegar

1 t vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients, then add the wet. Beat until smooth.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 C peanut butter

1/2 C vegan butter

2-3 C powdered sugar

splash soy milk

Beat until fluffy!

Scrapple...

Scrapple. This is what I know. You eat it for breakfast. It is made up of all the extra bits of pig that get thrown away. You slice it and you cook it in a pan until its brown. Its from Pennsylvania and its worth trying if you've never had it!

Disasters

Sometimes we have baking disasters! I am not a master baker...I just pretend to be. My sister recently has become vegan. She was away all summer and as her welcome home treat we decided to make vegan Vanilla Thyme Roasted Peach & Blueberry Cupcakes with a Tofutti Cream Frosting. Delicious.

But they forgot to leave out the part that they explode! The explosion could be...part us trying to veganize the recipe...or it was the part that these super cute cupcake wrappers did not work out. Baking fail...it happens now and then.

Buckeyes Revisited

Always a winner...if you can tell by the empty plate. Make these ASAP! And just tell your consumers that they have little sugar and are very healthy. I recently switched to using dark chocolate with them to hopefully increase their healthiness factor. Here is the original recipe that I posted a few months ago! Still the best thing that take the least amount of time. Peanut Butter Chocolate Truffle Recipe

Mrs. Winslow's Potato Salad

Mrs. Winslow is my brother's girlfriends mother (BD's potential Mother in law!) Recently my parents spent the weekend with their family in upstate New York. When they returned home they had a new recipe to share with me. This is very simple and I'm not going to give any measurements because it's a secret. Trust me. If you combine these ingredients until it looks about right, you've created a good thing! Enjoy!

Celery-chopped

Vidalia Onion-chopped

Potatoes-boiled, skinned, cooled, and chopped

Mayonnaise

Salt, Pepper

Hard Boiled Eggs-chopped

Jalapenos Revisited

For those of you who are cautious of spicy things....DO NOT AVOID this recipe! These little guys are delicious! The cream cheese really cuts the heat, but you're also baking it so that brings down the heat as well. Below I've included a more detailed recipe for you adventurous cooks!

Jalapenos Wrapped with Bacon

Ingredients:

Bacon-in thirds

Jalapenos-as many as you can get your hands on

Cream Cheese-one package

Cut jalapenos in half and take out seeds. If you're making a lot of jalapenos. WEAR GLOVES. Otherwise you will experience hand discomfort for the next three days!

Scoop a generous amount of cream cheese into the jalapenos.

Wrap with bacon. And close with a toothpick.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes. Make sure the bacon is cooked!

Eat up!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Originally this evening I was planning on making Spiced Carrot Muffins. But instead I made these cookies which are actually quite hearty with the addition of the raisins, nuts and oatmeal. I'm so happy that fall is here! Pumpkin you will be my best friend until it is time for sugar cookies and gingerbread! This cookies recipe is very easy and I will definitely make it again now that we're moving into these fall months!

Revised: I did make the Spiced Carrot Muffins the following night. They were delicious! Yum. Make these ASAP!

Quiche Lorraine & Hash Browns

The perfect beginning to a lazy summer day! -just be certain to plan ahead!! This deep-dish recipe is yet another classic from Cook's Illustrated. The hours necessary to prep the crust are well spent! While you prepare and wait for the crust to take shape, spend the hours with a dear friend over coffee and biscotti or settle-down with a good book!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

These little yummy appetizers are another blessing from Ree. I've decided that she knows how to please a crowd and her recipes rarely fail. Actually nothing I've made from her has failed. These guys are simple and delicious! With three ingredients, you're good to go. Simply take Jalapeno peppers, slice them in half. Fill them with cream cheese. Wrap in bacon---secure with a tooth pick. Bake for about 25 minutes. Official Recipe.

Don't they look awesome! They were! But they were very spicy! If you can handle the heat, you should definitely make them. I know I'm going to again very soon! They were a sure crowd pleaser. Here is Papa D from How to Make the Face. He's either telling me how great they are after his long bike ride or he's making a reference to Jeff Dunhams-Mr. Jalapeno on a stick!

Giveaway Winner!

Maybe the most exciting day of the summer...Ok second most exciting-the first most exciting I will save! I entered to win a blog contest-where you simply leave a post. Then....about a week later...I found out I won! And I didn't just win one thing I won all of these amazing things! Wholey Moley! Its Christmas in summer. Thanks again Sues and Chels.

If you want to follow my twitter---you can get more updates from me daily. @annemariedenton

Scallop & Bacon Succotash

After reading this post on one of my favorite blogs...I couldn't wait to make it. Most of my contributions to the dish were cleaning up and shaving asparagus but thanks to DD we enjoyed this dish thoroughly the other night! The ingredients were all super fresh and that was key! Try the recipe over at WeAreNotMartha!

Banana Bread Can Vary...

We've tried many different banana bread recipes...But it always comes out different. Does anyone have a fool proof recipe so we can stop experimenting on innocent bananas?