Modern Sweet Potatoes & Pepper Jelly Vinigarette

Yay for Easter and our Savior’s resurrection! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I got to go home to Columbia for the first time since Christmas! Going to my parent’s house = eating way too much. This Easter weekend was no exception. I over indulged…but I was just celebrating the Easter season, right?

On Saturday night, I wanted to help cook, and I made the sides to go with a beef tenderloin. When I started thinking up sides to make, I knew I had to make my roasted sweet potato salad. Last fall, after I got a huge bag of sweet potatoes from my great aunt’s farm, and I was trying to find new ways to eat all the potatoes, I discovered this recipe, which is a completely new take on traditional sweet potatoes. It involves no brown sugar or butter (shocking, I know). Yet, it is packed with delicious flavor! It keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge, and tastes just as good served cold!  This recipe is sure to be a hit when you make it!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients:

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 T olive oil

¼ cup honey

3 T white wine vinegar

2 T chopped fresh rosemary

½ tsp salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

2 minced garlic cloves

Directions:

Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray, toss together potato and 1 T oil in pan.

Bake uncovered at 450 for 35 to 45 minutes or until tender. Turn after 20 minutes. Whisk together remaining ingredients. Transfer warm potatoes to a large serving  bowl and add dressing, tossing gently. Cool, garnish with fresh rosemary if desired. It’s that simple!

I also made a salad to go with our dinner. The salad base was really simple, just romaine lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes, golden raisins and feta cheese. There was a recipe for Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette that I had been wanting to try, so I made that to go with the salad, and it was so good! It was a sweet dressing with just a little bit of a spicy kick to it. I definitely recommend it! It was also simple to make and didn’t require lots of stirring and emulsifying (like so many other vinaigrette recipes).

Vinaigrette Ingredients

1/4 cup pepper jelly

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

Use a blender (a mixer would also work) to combine all the ingredients well. Pour into serving container or over salad, and enjoy!

FEATURED FRIEND FRIDAY!!!

CONGRATS TO HEATHER QUINN WHO IS OUR FFF!!! It was a hard decision this week, but we decided since Heather entered this cute Easter themed recipe she would take the cake this week ;)!!

Since it is EASTER WEEKEND, I thought it would be appropriate to enter a cute little bunny cake into FFF!  I’m not going to take all the credit… or any of it actually…. since my wonderfully creative bff, Mallory, actually made this cake.

It’s really simple…

Ingredients:

Box cake mix*

The other ingredients on the back of the box

Store-bought Icing

Some of those colorful icing tube thingys 🙂

Directions:

Bake cake according to instructions on box using two round pans.  When cool, cut one of the round cakes in half.  Place the remaining whole cake on a large platter and arrange the two halves (well, quarters actually) above for the ears.  Ice, decorate, and voila!  Bunny Cake!

*Mallory used funfetti cake and baked the sprinkles into the batter, but any cake mix could be used!

This cake seems BEYOND easy to make and something ANYONE can do. It is too cute!! Congrats Heather!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! Celebrate…Jesus and give Thanks for HE IS RISEN!

xoxo,

J&K

p.s. don’t forget to check out our contest below and write your comment! Thanks ❤

Extra Extra Read all about it: J&K are having a GIVE-A-WAY!!

LADIES AND GENTS…I am happy to say..we are having a GIVE-A-WAY!!

We want to thank YOU! In effort to show our appreciation to our readers we are going to have a little contest.

I keep talking about these amazing chocolate chip cookies from Arizona…and since I have been back I decided to make my own recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It has taken about 4-5 tries, but I now have them just how I and hopefully others like them. So before I go telling everyone this secret recipe we wanted to allow our readers a chance to WIN a batch {2dozen}!

Here are the rules:

1. Comment on this post telling us what your favorite thing/dish/restaurant is during the SPRING TIME!! Obviously the more cheesy you are the better!

2. Only one comment per person.

3. Anyone that lives in America can comment. I will ship the yummy cookies anywhere!

4. The contest will end on 4/8/2010, and the Winner will be announced on Friday morning.

5. At least 25 people need to comment for a winner to be selected. (SO TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS BLOG AND HAVE THEM COMMENT!)  Yes, it is our way of marketing..we thank you! 😉

6. Do not be bashful if you are not a blogger or commenter…these cookies are worth it!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!! WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT OUR FIRST CONTEST!!!

Thomas Keller…and a very special day!

Last Thursday I got up, threw on some clothes {don’t judge} and headed to the Green Hills Williams-Sonoma to meet THOMAS KELLER!

The line was not too long thankfully by the time I got there and I was able to purchase 2 Ad Hoc cookbooks for him to sign. MERRY CHRISTMAS MAMA!

Jenny and I are planning a girls trip to San Fran & Napa in the fall and without a doubt will be going to eat at Bouchon..words can not explain the excitement.

Soon when neither of us has anything planned for an entire day we are going to cook an entire meal with recipes from Ad Hoc. GET EXCITED!!!

I CANNOT WAIT TO READ ALL THE YUMMY RECIPES ENTERED FOR FFF. Don’t forget to submit if you have not already.

AND FINALLY….drumroll please….

BIG JEN IS TURNING 24 TODAY!!!

Happy Birthday JENNY!!!!!!

Make sure to wish her a Happy Birthday!!!!

Have a great day!!!

XO,

K

Pumpkin Cookies

Disclaimer: I know that it is well past the time of year that people generally make pumpkiny foods.  However, I had one, lone can of pumpkin puree left in my baking cabinet that was asking to be used. There was no question as to what the last pumpkiny dessert of the season would be… This past October, I made these up for my presh friend, Molly’s birthday party. This recipe is a unique  flavor combination because it combines the flavors of pumpkin and butterscotch. At first, I didn’t know how these would go over with a big crowd of people, amidst a sea of other baked goods. Much to my delight, they were quickly eaten that night and have been requested since then!

This past Friday, our friend, Todd, hoted a cookout at his house, which presented the perfect opportunity to whip up a batch of these easy-to-make cookies, using the last can of pumpkin. The way I can gauge how good a recipe is, is by how much of it I take home with me. Needless to say, this recipe did not disappoint, as I did not take a single cookie home!

I cannot take credit for creating this recipe. It comes from Joy, who has quite the repertoire of recipes for baked goods, never ceasing to inspire us! She is such a talented baker!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper (or you can spray non-stick cooking spray on baking sheet).

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.  On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended.  Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it.  Mix in the chips.

Using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart.

Bake the  cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 15 minutes.  Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Friends at the cookout!

P.S. Katie debuted her ultimate chocolate chip cookies at the cookout using a recipe that she has perfected after many trials! Be on the lookout for a blog post soon that will give you the chance to try these!!

Showing off our Cookie Creations!

Cookie-off, Bring it On!

Featured Friend Friday!!

It’s Friday!!

And today our 2nd FEATURED FRIEND IS…..

Caylen Kyle my favorite host from Phoenix (with the cutest apartment) ever!! She introduced me to my new favorite restaurant/grocery store/cafe…. LA GRANDE ORANGE!!! Anyway..she is our 2nd FFF and we are EXCITED TO HAVE HER AS A GUEST!!!!!

“Hello Dollies”

1 stick melted butter
1 C graham cracker crumbs (just use one package)
1 C flaked coconut
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 C chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix butter and crumbs, spread in 9×9″ square pan (if using 9×13″, use a bit more butter and graham crackers… enough to make a good crust in the bottom of the pan). Layer coconut, chocolate chips and pecans, then pour milk over the whole thing. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool (or don’t!) before cutting.

These are SO good and super easy. Enjoy!!!!!

(ps, I BETTER WIN)

These are a staple fav for most people and if you have never tried them before..GET COOKING!!!

p.s. guess what….CAYLEN WON!!!! YAYAYAY!!!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!!

XOXO,

J&K

105 views…THANKS!!

We had 105 Views on the blog yesterday!!

Thank you all for viewing our blog! Please do not forget to sign up to receive an email each time we post. And make sure you confirm in the email you are sent. :):)

We truly appreciate all of your support and hope that you are trying all of our recipes!! Don’t forget to submit for Featured Friends by midnight tonight!!

Latoria’s Strawberry Cupcakes

Happy Sunshiny Wednesday.

I am telling you all. This. Weather. Makes. Me. Happy!!!

Typically Jenny and I cook a Sunday Dinner each week. This week we had a meeting about the wonderful event that is taking place on May 22nd benefiting Linda’s Hope. (details will be announced soon) and then I not wanting the weekend to end went to listen to High Tide Blues play at 12th & Porter! So…sorry for no Sunday Dinner post..but we sure hope you LOVE all of these SWEET EATS!

Latoria’s Strawberry Cupcakes

Latoria has been my Lunch Buddy a little over a year now. She is in 3rd grade and turned 9 on Sunday. SHE LOVES STRAWBERRY MILK..so for her birthday I decided to make her class Strawberry Cupcakes with store bought Cream Cheese Icing. The recipe makes a dozen cupcakes, so I doubled everything to make enough for her whole class.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart and they are SPRINKLES cupcakes…AMAZING!

Makes 1 dozen

• 2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

The kids LOVED them!! I know, I know, homemade icing would have made them SO much better..maybe next time. 🙂

DONT FORGET ABOUT FEATURED FRIENDS THIS FRIDAY!!! Email us your recipes or stories ASAP!!

XOXO,

K

Boss’s Birthday

So, my boss’s birthday was last week, and my boss is a big fan of birthdays. Therefore, I’m a big fan of her birthday. But really, she is a great boss and I wanted to bake a little something special, especially since she had to spend her b-day away from home, in Chat-town. I also wanted something fairly quick to make since I’d been out of town all weekend, but no way was I going to compromise on taste….which led me to this recipe for Ooey Gooey Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake..just typing the name makes me want to devour a piece!

Originally, my plan was to present the cake to her in the original 9×13 pan it was baked in. Then, I realized, that I HAD to taste it to make sure it tasted okay and wouldn’t make anyone sick or anything. So, I may or may not have eaten a (6 pieces) with the help of Katie and Roomster, Kate, of course. Oh, and my boss liked them, too 🙂

If you like peanut butter and chocolate, then this is a must-try dessert for you. It is gooey goodness straight from your oven.

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Cake:

1 (18 1/4-ounce) package chocolate cake mix (I used Devil’s Food, but any chocolate cake mix will work)

1 egg

8 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened                                                                                                

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

the beginning of fabulousness

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread peanut butter mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over-bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Although, we  were still eating these about 5 days after I baked them. So,they def don’t have to be eaten right away.

I apologize because this picture doesn't even begin to do the bars justice!

P.S. Did you notice anything new about our blog?? My very talented friend, Julie, designed a header for us! If you haven’t already, you need to check out her amazing and inspiring website here: http://www.jewels-blog.com/.  Thank you, thank you Julie!

WOOHOO FRIDAY!! YAY FOR SUNSHINE!!

For those of you that do not know…I LOVE HOT WEATHER. Sunshine=Katie happy! 🙂

Lately, I have cooked at home A LOT! I have tried to save some $$$ and eat healthy at the same time. Trust me I have destroyed a few recipes in my effort, but a few have been great meals! Jenny has started noticing that when I cook I start thinking I am Barefoot Contessa and I assume there is no need to follow the EXACT recipe. Sometimes it is for the better…but most times I should just follow the recipe!

This week I decided to use my crock pot. It is an investment I would recommend anyone to purchase…..Especially worker bees or busy moms. I found a recipe online and tweaked it a bit…this time I just added more veggies…nothing major.

Crockpot Beef with Mushrooms(carrot and potatoes) and Red Wine Gravy

1 1/2 lbs well-trimmed beef stew meat, cut into one inch pieces
2 medium onions cut into half inch wedges (I used one large onion)
1 pkg sliced fresh mushrooms (8oz)
1 envelope beefy onion soup mix
3 tbs cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups dry red wine

I added some baby carrots and medium size red potatoes

Place beef, onions and mushrooms in a 4qt or larger crockpot. Add dry soup mix. Sprinkle with cornstarch and salt and pepper. Pour wine over all. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours or high 5-6 hours. Stir well before serving.

MAKE SURE YOU PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE HEAT SETTING YOU SELECT!! I decided to make cookies at the same time and selected high heat in all the excitement and 10 hours later when I got home..I had some edible food….haha I promise it was still good…but I am sure it would have been better if it had been on medium heat. So yes..I am admitting…this could have been a total disaster if I were preparing it for others..but luckily in my thrifty life…I will eat just about anything. 🙂

And about those cookies I was baking……well tweaking that recipe is still being done. I added a little too much salt. For another good laugh let me just tell you what else I did on this day….or to tell you on what NOT TO DO…

So I was all in cooking mode and thankfully had some extra time. I recently went to Arizona. There was a little grocery store/café/bakery that I COULD LIVE IN!! It’s La Grande Orange. IT IS AMAZING!!! Once I perfect these cookies I will do a post with more detail about this little store. Anyway…I wanted to attempt to make the cookies that they sell. Mine turned out OKAY…but J&K don’t like OKAY…ha! In the midst of all my “thinking I am a chef” I decided hmmmm let me become PAULA DEAN and try to FRY A COOKIE. I did not want to eat it, I just wanted to try! HAHAHA Well let’s just say…I am glad my smoke alarm is broken…because here is the result. The positive of this day was that my frying pan is now clean!!

YUMMY!!!!! Good news is that whole fiasco happened Monday..and today is FRIDAY..a new day!!

I am about to attempt the cookies again. I promise..no more trying to fry things that do not fry!

YAY FOR THE WEEKEND…WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE RECIPES AND HAVE A BLAST IN THE SUN!!

XOXO,

K