Fallen Souffle

So I actually made all of this on Thursday morning. I don’t know what got into me, I started at about 9am and ended around 11:30am, I then realized that I was still in my PJ’s and Evan was going to be home for lunch at noon, so I ran to take a shower so I didn’t look like a total bum.

I made hot pepper jelly for gift giving, a totally southern thing. I was nervous about canning myself because I usually can with Mom, and it is alot easier with an extra pair of hands. I also didn’t have all of the equipment, so I had to improvise. But is all worked out, all of the jars sealed and it even gelled really well! I was super nervous because when it cooled it was still very syrupy, but the next day it thickened just fine. I used 3 green peppers, 2 red peppers and 7 jalepenos. I took the seeds out and chopped them in the food processor. I followed the recipe on the SureGel box which also included a cup of apple cider vinegar, 5 cups of sugar and 4 cups of the chopped peppers. If you want to make this recipe I would totally recommend using SureGel and following their method.

I also made biscotti, I sent this to my Blogging by Mail partner. This recipe is so easy to make and super versatile. This would make a great gift with a small packet of coffee. I used the zest and juice of one orange and half a package of dried cranberries in this batch. But mini chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon almond extract or anise extract would be great too.

Holiday Biscotti
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
flavoring of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. In a medium, beat together oil, eggs, sugar, and liquid flavorings until well blended. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. If you are adding nuts, dried fruit or chopped chocolate - fold them in now. Divide dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as the cookie sheet. Flatten the roll to about 1/2 inch thickness.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cook slightly. Once cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2 slices, diagonal slices are always pretty. Place the cut side up on the baking sheet and bake for 6-10 minutes on each side. Slices will be lighly toasted.

4. After cooling, you may dip or drizzle with melted chocolate.

I would get so much done if I was this motivated everyday!

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I don’t know why I have the uncontrollable desire to please people…and I mean everyone…even people I don’t really care too much about. At work I am constantly bringing in baked goods for people even though I can count on three fingers the number of people I actually like. People rave about the things I bring in…I should really start charging for it- they get home made treats weekly. Some of it has to do with the fact that I like to experiment a lot and if I kept it all in the house, Evan and I would be 400 pounds…each!

I recently received a “request” for French Silk pie from the agency manager, I actually like this guy so I thought I would take a crack at it. The only silk pie I have ever made was from a box, like the no-bake jello cheesecakes. Ironically, I was flipping through a recipe book my Mom let me borrow and I found a recipe for the silk pie. With only 5 ingredients (not including the pie crust) I thought I would give it a whirl. For some reason I was extra motivated today because I was at my breaking point with some of the office dynamics, so to take my frustration out, I baked up a storm tonight- go figure.

This pie is easy to throw together. I am learning to love those pre-made rolled pie crusts in the section with the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, they are cheap, freeze well and taste pretty darn good. Who wants to deal with pie crust when it is 80 degrees outside (I can’t believe I am saying that in the middle of October!) This recipe is defiantly a keeper, though be careful as it does have raw eggs, I need to see if EggBeaters will work with this recipe.

French Silk Pie
(from the Cooking Club of America cookbook “You Deserve Dessert”)

1/2 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
2-1 oz, squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-9 inch baked and cooled pie crust

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar at high speed for about 5 minutes or until fluffy, should be white in color Add eggs one at a time, beating 1-2 minutes in between each addition. Add cooled chocolate and vanilla to egg mixture and beat until fluffy.

2. Pour mixture into pie shell, refridgerate several house or overnight, serve with whipped cream. Store in refridgerator.

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One of my favorite chefs/cooks/entertainers is Ina Garten, she does the Barefoot Contessa show on Food Network. I want to be Ina, but much slimer. She lives in the Hamptons in her beautiful house with her white picket fence and massive garden and she cooks and entertains while her husband, who she only sees on the weekend, slaves away at work. Ok well I could do without the husband being away, I adore Evan way too much for that But in general she has a great life and I think why I like her so much is that her recipes are pretty simple but they have amazing ingredients in them. She had turned me on the cooking with what’s fresh.

One of her taglines is to use “really good vanilla” when she bakes. When Evan and I were on our honeymoon we stopped in Grenada, “The Spice Island” and I insisted on getting a bottle of vanilla. It is the best stuff every and it was like $3 a bottle. When I can home I visited the Spice Lady at the NCState fairgrounds and she told me how simple is was to make. Simple AND cheap, my two favorite things! My Mom started brewing some about a month ago and I just started a batch for Christmas gifts recently and I wanted to pass the “secret” on to everyone so they can get their bottle ready in time for Christmas baking.

Pure Vanilla Extract

1 bottle (375 ml) of cheap vodka
4 whole vanilla beans

I like to soak the label off the bottle before I start, because who wants to give their Aunt Sue a bottle of brown Aristocrap? You can also add a pretty label after you are done!

Split the vanilla beans in half and drop them into the bottle of vodka. Seal the cap tightly and store in a dark place for atleast 2 months. That’s it! Who knew it could be so easy!

Vanilla beans are becoming more widely available, if you are in Raleigh, I would suggest going to the fairgrounds to buy from the Spice Lady. I also think they are available in a Whole Foods/Fresh Market type place, and they usually run about a buck a piece. So for a total of $8 you have a substantial amount of vanilla that could easily cost you twice as much in the store.

The good news is that when you use about half the bottle just refill it with plain bottle to create more extract!

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