remember my doughnut craze?

Here's a mini post for the day...I'll post more later. But I couldn't resist telling you that BEYOND GLAZE (the exact place I posted about three posts ago) is having a sale! You can buy their gift certificates for dang cheap. Just go here: http://dtmr.co/id2g?

Luv me!

doughnut craze.

I've never been a doughnut lover. But every time I go to Pictureline in Draper, I'm strangely tempted by the doughnut shop that sits just around the corner. The shop, Beyond Glaze, suits its name perfectly. They sell glazed doughnut creations that could be considered art. Each tempting delight in the store will make your mouth water...except for maybe the "maple and bacon" signature doughnut. I'm adventurous when it comes to sampling doughnuts, but not insane. And in case you're wondering, yes the maple bacon doughnut has actual bits of bacon on it's maple frosted top. Moving past that doughnut, I broke down and bought a half-dozen others. It was such a hard choice. Which only means next time I'm at Pictureline, you can be sure I'll go to Beyond Glaze too.
These yummy treats are a little on the pricey side, but totally worth it. I bit each one of my half-dozen and couldn't decide which was my favorite. And no, I didn't get any weird looks when I brought home a box of bite-marked doughnuts. That's kind of how my family rolls. And consider this post fair warning that if you stop by my house and there's a treat out, there may or may not be a bite out of it.

If you haven't been to Beyond Glaze, you should make a trek over soon. I'm certain you'll become an instant fan. My kids were. And they've been bothering non-stop to go back and buy more.

Question of the Day:
For all you Writers out there, what's your favorite writing treat to eat while you're tapping away on those keys? Mine is usually M&Ms and Diet Coke, but I might trade it out for a doughnut from Beyond Glaze.

egg-actly what i'm talking about.

Did you know that regular store eggs come out brown and are bleached white?

I'm ashamed to admit my ignorance, but I didn't know that until Doug, my step-father-in-law-once-removed, handed me a dozen eggs from his chickens (that live in his back yard) and told me just that. He said, "Did you know they bleach store bought eggs white?" I said, "Really? That's weird. Why don't they just keep them brown."
"I dunno," he said. "Probably because people like the look of it."

Well, I thought about that. Not for too long or anything. It's not like I'm sitting around pondering the color of the almighty egg for days on end. It just struck me as odd. Why can't brown eggs stay brown? I can't say I ever gave it much thought...here I go with the thinking about it all again...and what I came to think about it is this:

I think brown eggs look mighty fine and real purty. Maybe if we all though that then we'd have speckly brown eggs instead of bleached white eggs. There. I done said it. I like brown better than white. Call me an egg-cist.

Holla' ya'll for the brown egg. 

Now don't them eggs look nice?

ruby and the giant peach.

Across the street from where I live is a half acre lot filled with peach trees. For the last three summers in a row I've been blessed with a crate of the most delectable, mouth-watering peaches from the small orchard. My kids and I have made peach fruit leather, peach jam, peach syrup and smoothies of all design. But what I've found is I like a peach best when I can sink my teeth into one fresh picked off the tree.

As soon as I brought in the bowl, my little girl was asking for one. She likes them just like me. Enjoy the photo spew...she was too cute to stop snapping pictures.

She's my little sweet peach.

mariko's cupcakes.

Have you noticed how long it's been since I've posted? Yeah, sorry about that. I had a wee bit of an emo-mental break down caused by frantic editing leading up to a whirlwind trip to the motherland (a.k.a. Hawaii). All of which caused a serious blockage in my brain. For the last two weeks I've been mumbling nonsense and downing Diet Coke like it's the new water. Um...it is the new water, right?
Regardless, it all boils down to no pictures or posts for you.

But now I'm back. And back in sweet style.

Today I was at church. I saw a girl. Not just any girl, but one that I've secretly loathed because of my insane jealousy issues. She is smart, funny, pretty, and uber-talented in the food blogging world. Oh, and she's a mom of two perfectly amazing children. Grrr...just thinking of her makes my blood boil.
What was this post about again? I'm having a hard time seeing through the red haze.
Oh right, Mariko's cupcakes.

So I saw this girl. Mariko is her name. And she said to me, "Hey, show me how to shoot some sweet-as food." (She didn't really say those exact words, but I can't be bothered to write the truth right now because it's tedious and lengthy. I'm sure it went more like, "How are you, Erin?" And I responded with, "Fine. Just fine. How's your friggin' awesome kids?...Oh, perfect as always...Yeah, and you're still smart...great. That's really great...".)
After a short chat she asked if I would come demonstrate how I shoot food. And frankly I was jumping for joy inside. Is there really something I can show her? Holla' ya'll. I said, "Sure. Make some cupcakes and I'll come over." (I'm pretty sure that's what I really did say.) And voila! She made them. I went over. And I shot her.

I mean, I shot her cupcakes.

Here's Mariko's yummy cupcakes coming straight to you from the motherland of Hawaii!

Aloha, erin.

some like it hot.

I love salsa. I like it hot...relatively speaking. I don't want my lips to melt off my face and my tongue to shrivel into a blackened stump from the fire in the peppers, but I don't mind a nice burn across the creases of my mouth. I love my salsa to burst with cilantro and to hold a hint of lemon or lime in each bite. I want there to be a kick and to be complimented with the perfect greasy tortilla chip. Oh, just writing this post makes my mouth water. 

In order to feed my summer salsa craving I planted a "salsa-lovers" garden. Big Boys, Early Girls, Celebrity and Roma tomato plants are surrounded by a couple tall cilantro clusters, sweet Walla Walla onions bursting from the ground, two bell pepper plants, and one serrano plant. In another month my house will become salsa central and Salsa Fest 2011 will begin. (Stay tuned for updates of this years Jam Fest 2011 that went off without a hitch. Strawberry Jam rocks!)

Anyway, the purpose of this post isn't for me to brag and brag some more about my pint sized garden that will only be good for supplying my love of salsa. Basically I want something from you. I want your recipes! I'll share mine first...and granted it's not the best or I wouldn't be asking for yours. But it's decently good. So I'm begging you, if you have a great salsa recipe please share it.

Erin's Supa' Awesome Salsa 

(Winner of Summerill Salsa Fest 2010)

8 roma tomatoes
1/2 large bell pepper
1-2 garlic cloves
1 small walla walla sweet onion
1/2 serrano pepper or jalapeno
1/2 lemon (squeezed for it's juice)
1/3 cup of chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: 
1. Buy yourself a food processor. It makes the salsa making process so much faster. And it's pretty cool when you get to press the "pulse" button over and over again.
2. Pulse (this is like intense chopping) the bell pepper, garlic, onion, and serrano pepper until evenly chopped.
3. Cut your roma tomatoes into quarter-sized chunks, then add to the food processor. Pulse until your salsa reaches the consistency you like.
4. Add chopped cilantro, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse a couple more times until it's all mixed and looking like a good-lookin' salsa.
5. Get out some real nice tortilla chips and dig in!

If your salsa recipe is better than mine, please share.

build it and he will come.

Remember Field of Dreams? Such a classic, back when Kevin Costner was pure awesome.

Today Brekke, my frienemy, came by with her decadant strawberry lime "scratch" cakes (cupcakes made without a box mix). Unfortunately for me, and my kids that may or may not have heard me curse, I am not eating sugar. Mark and I agreed, when we returned from California, that our sugar days were over. So for the last five days I've been doing great.

And them Brekke came.

Well, I did tell her in the past, "Bring it and I will shoot." And so she did. I guess I shouldn't be complaining. I only had to leave the room once, fist stuffed securely in my mouth, to keep myself from lunging at the scratch cake and shoving it, wrapper and all, in my mouth. Now I have these lovely pictures to post.

Enjoy a strawberry lime Brekke-Cake.

Sigh. Remember when I could eat sugar and my hair wouldn't fall out. Yes, those were the good days.



french onion soup.

My favorite. I love, drool over, crave and must have this soup at least once during the fall and once in the winter. It's an annual tradition for my family once the weather turns cold. If you live in Utah, you know it was beastly cold yesterday, so of course I made FRENCH ONION SOUP!

I'll tell you now, this recipe is unlike any you'll ever have. My mom snagged the recipe off a burly pup owner in England years ago. FYI, did you know I was actually born there? I know, the accent gives it away.

Anyhow, it's delish. I hope you enjoy.

1. Cut the onions. And bawl like a friggin' baby. Holy cow, I had mascara streaking down my face like I was next in line to star in a KISS show.

2. Then make the onion goodness:

French Onion Soup



3-4 lbs of sweet onions, sliced thin

1/2 cup butter

4-5 Tbl. flour

6 cups chicken broth

4-5 Tbl. rice vinegar or mild vinegar 

1 loaf of sour dough bread, chopped into bite size pieces

1 pound of Swiss cheese

1. Saute onions in butter until tender, not brown.

2. Stir in flour until the aroma smells divine! (Your mixture will look light brown.)

3. Whisk in chicken broth, and then add vinegar to taste.

4. Scoop soup mixture into oven safe bowls.

5. Top with handfuls of bread cubes, and Swiss cheese.

6. Cook at 500 degrees until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Then eat and enjoy, and think of me!

oh, for the love.

Remember yesterday's cookies? Not so yummy. In fact, when all was said and done I only ate two. Maybe if you suffer from anorexia then you're thinking two is a lot, but the rest of the stay-at-home mommy world know that two cookies from an entire batch is exercising seriously self-control. Except, there wasn't much to control because those cookies tasted one step up from butt.

Tammy, the other momiva (mom+diva), took pity on my motheticness (mom+patheticness) and brought over the yummiest cookies seen here:

Notice there are only four on the plate. Um, that's because I may or may not have eaten two or quite a bit more. Even without Betty Crocker's assimilated frosting product, they tasted divine.

And then, to top off my evening. I got to shoot me a hunky senior in front of my TRUCK!

Truck, truck, bo buck, banana fana fo TRUCK! I love it. And I love this cute senior boy...who is not nearly as cute as my main man, Mark! (That's alliteration for you babe cause I luv ya. wink)

le dessert craptastico!

I like food. Who doesn't? But I hate it when I'm having a hankering for something sweet, and thanks to some grand idea I had two days ago about getting fit, there's nothing yummy in my house to eat. And to make matters worse, someone like Tammy posts something ridiculously good-looking. Check it out HERE!

Of course I act like any other rational stay-at-home mom toting a muffin like stomach, and working towards slimming up to her 20's again. I dig through my cupboards for every last ingredient on that blasted blog post. And sadly enough, I'm one egg short.
One egg from chocholate goodness that will take all my woes away.
One!

So I do the next best thing. I peruse my cookbooks, scan the internet, and say a prayer in my heart that I can make something similar to Tammy's tempting creation.

Do I?

Um, Yeah. Not so much. But though they aren't gourmet, or even finely crafted, these homemade oreos will please my kids. And given the bizarre aftertaste, my diet is saved too! So I'm happy all around. Chocolate craving cured. Diet saved. Kids happy. I feel like a regular super-mom.

If you feel like making le oreo dessert craptastico, here's the recipe. You can be super-mom too!

One devils food cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup cooking oil

1 T. water

Mix all of that together until it forms a wierd sticky dough substance. Then pinch off large marble size pieces and roll into balls. Set on a greased cookie sheet a couple inches apart. Press flat. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

When cool, no need to get all fancy and make frosting. Just pick up some whipped cream cheese frosting in the tubs and smear between two cookies.

Arrange on a decorative plate, and call yourself a domestic goddess!

GOOD EATS: fast festive gingerbread

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know today is Monday, thus I normally post on Fitness...if you want to read that post, it is below this post. But if you need another holiday pick me up besides fitness, then here is some easy to make comfort cookies!

Are you in the mood for a timeless holiday treat, but you don't have the time or energy to slave away in the kitchen? This recipe is the solution. With almost no preparation time, these sweet treats are done before you know it!

fast festive gingerbread
Cook Time: 8-10 min.
Bake Temp: 375 Degrees

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or with a light greasing.
2. In a mixer, combine:
1 spice cake mix
2 large eggs (at room temp.)
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3. Mix until ingredients are wet and no cake mix remains dry. 4. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch in thickness.
5. Using your favorite holiday cookie cutter, cut out shapes in dough and place 1" apart on prepared cookie sheet. 6. Bake, and promptly remove from oven. Let cool on a cookie sheet. Cookies should be slightly chewy...and very yummy.

*Optional: To add some festive flair, dip cooled cookies in dipping chocolate and sprinkle with crushed candy cane.

You can have your Cake and eat it too...

Isn't this cake a masterpiece? I remember the good old days when my sister Leslie lived in Orem and worked part time as a cake Creator/decorator...the days when her young son would find cake cut off treasures in the garbage...the days when I always had somewhere to go to dig into leftover frosting. Ah yes, such sweet memories.
I watched as the master cake decorator set this cake up and squirted on the last few touch ups. I had my finger ready and waiting to sample the greatest tasting frosting ever! Not only was this cake an artistic beauty, it tasted the part too. Of all the weddings I have shot this summer, by far this cake tasted the best! In case you were wondering, this cake was made by Michelle Larson of Eagle Mountain.

HOW TO MAKE: Scrupmtious Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate covered strawberries have been a long time love of mine. Earlier this year I felt a true loss in my life when our dear friends, the Atterburrys, moved from Utah to Mississippi. You see, she was my Christmas supplier of a lovely gift of Scrumptious Chocolate Covered Strawberries and other such sweet desserts. Thus, when the opportunity arose late last night for me to own my piece of sweet temptation, I jumped at it. To make the strawberries below, I simply followed these directions.

1. First acquire a good friend whose husband is a head chef and owns a DELUXE chocolate fountain. Over the years of your friendship, express your unwaning desire to help 'clean up' the excess after a chocolate fountain event. Then when that great day arrives, graciously accept, "oh, what, you would like me to come and gather the excess chocolate...hmmm...I am sure I can help you out with that." Jump in your mini-van, with kids in tow, and bust a move over to their place no matter what time of night it is.

2. Late in the evening, make a mad run to the local grocery store and purchase the most delectable, plump and blushingly red strawberries that you can find.
3. Clean and dry each strawberry and then dip, all the way down to the stems, each juicy piece...making sure to coat your fingers in the rich, gourmet gift from heaven. Then from elbow to finger tip, LICK clean!
4. If need be, double dip or triple dip each strawberry to ensure a ratio of 4 parts chocolate to 1 part strawberry.5. Arrange each strawberry, so as not to crowd one another's glory, on a piece of parchment paper. Parchment paper is the utmost necessity because it will facilitate the chocolate strawberry eater in gleaning all the chocolate off it's resting place. Simply using a plate will cause excess chocolate to stick to the plate; thus, leaving the eater to scrape the plate with one's teeth.
6. In the end, when you have successfully gorged yourself with your 2 pounds of strawberries shamelessly loaded in 2 more pounds of chocolate, place the extra on a platter and present them at your neighborhood pot luck as your complete and delicate works of edible art! (Try hard to be gracious and mention the lovely, now newest best friend, as the supplier of the melted gourmet chocolate)

FRIDAY'S FABULOUS 5 FIT TIPS!

*on a side note, if you have been wondering where I have been, see the posts below*

Need a great way to jump start your weekend? Follow these Five Fabulous tips for Friday to kick your Fitness plan into weekend shape!

1. Feel the Weekend Breeze. Get out there and take a sunset walk tonight. Not only will you love the fresh smell of spring's outdoors, but you will rev up your calorie burning system to help beat the weekend bulge.

2. Eat PANCAKES! Hooray for wholewheat healthy pancakes. Here is a recipe I have developed to help me through those weekends where the kids want piles of pancakes loaded with syrup. I make these healthy pancakes, and the kids are always asking for more! Click the link below to find out about this rockin' recipe!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

3. Go Yardsaling. The best way to not munch, graze or snack all day is to get busy. When I have my sights on yardsaling, nothing else can detract from that laser beam of thought. Save some money, and save a few calories too!

4. Buy Shoes...ok, maybe this tip wont appeal to you, but it certainly works for me. How does a new outfit make you feel? Great! I love the way a new pair of shoes hug my worn out feet and transform me from tired haggard housewife to 'EAT YOUR HEART OUT EVERYONE ELSE...BUT ERIN'. When you feel good about yourself you tend to make better choices for yourself too, but more importantly, you will be busy shopping all day that you wont have time to raid the fridge 20 times a day...and you will get the mall walking workout!

5. Beautify your Yard...No one likes to call this yard work, but come on, Spring has sprung and your yard is begging for a good weeding, planting and fertilizing. Not only will you be in the running for the city yard beautification award, but you will be burning calories!

Cookin' again!

I made these last night for a friend and YUM!

Butterscotch Choco-oat delights

2 1/2 sticks butter
1 C brown sugar
2/3 C white sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
2 1/2 C oatmeal
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 C butterscotch chips

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugars together.
2. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until well blended.
3. Sift together flour, salt, soda, and cinnamon and add to wet mixture until evenly mixed.
4. Fold in oatmeal, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl for even mixture.
5. Fold in chocolate and butterscotch.
6. Bake at 410 degrees for 10 minutes.
EAT!

Something Sweet for Friday: Lemon Lusts

I have a friend who is an unbelievably amazing cook! In fact, if I get even the slightest hint that she is baking, I make a point to stop by and 'see' her. She made these scrumptious treats the other day and I had to post them. Thank Tammy for the dish!

Lemon Lust
Crust:
1 cup (8 oz.) cold butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
Filling:
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbls. lemon zest
Confectioners' sugar for dusting
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
In a food processor: Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces and return it to the refrigerator. In the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade, place the confectioners' sugar, salt, and flour. Pulse until well blended. Add the chilled butter and toss with your hands to coat the pieces with flour. Process the mixture until it looks like a fine meal, about 15 seconds.
Transfer the crust dough to a 15x10 inch glass baking pan and press firmly onto the bottom. Place the pan on the center rack in the oven and bake for 15 minutes
While the crust bakes, make the filling. Combine the baking powder and flour. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a handheld whisk until they are well mixed. Add the sugar and beat until it is fully incorporated. Add the baking powder and flour in small amounts, beating after each addition. Whisk in the lemon juice and zest.
Pour the filling over the hot crust and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the filling has set and is golden brown. Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Did you have a sweet Valentine's Day?

Was your Valentine's day especially sweet? Yesterday, Mark and I decided to not fight the long restaurant lines, and we had a gourmet dinner at home with a few friends. We played how well do you know your spouse' and ate Fresh Herb Penne, Seasoned Ribs, Parmesan Rolls and Strawberry Brownie Chunk Trifle! The meal was divine and the company was a riot. Then at the end of the evening, I recieved this taste-bud temptation of a treat from a special valentine. This caramel apple tops all caramel apples. What special thing did you do or recieve yesterday?

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Yum! I made these last night and my family devoured them. They are simple and delightful!
1 1/3 C butter (softened)
1 C dark brown sugar
1 C sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 C Oatmeal

2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until thorougly combined. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Add Oatmeal and stir until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips and then spoon mixture onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 410 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then remove.

Easy Light Cookin!

I have to first start this blog off by saying Thank You to my Sister-in-Law, Shari. For Christmas last year, Shari sent everyone in the family the greatest gift ever! The gift keeps on giving! Every so often I check my mail box and there is another addition of Taste of Home magazine/cookbook. In fact, now that I think about it, I probably never got around to sending a thank you or even saying "Thank You." So, Shari if you read this blog, THANK YOU!!! I absolutely love this magazine and I cook many of the recipes in it.

Thus, this blog is about a yummy recipe that I found in this magazine. I am a veggie lover and I love finding recipes that are simple, but healthy. The following recipe is for red potatoes and it can be found in the most recent Taste of Home.
(I did alter the recipe slightly so I wasn't breaking the copyrighting laws.)

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

8 medium red potatoes
4 large peeled carrots (optional)
1 Tb. olive oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary (crushed)
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp cracked pepper

Cut potatoes and carrots up into bite size chunks and place in a bowl. Drizzle remaining ingredients over the potatoes and toss untill well coated. Place potatoes in a lighty sprayed, with non-stick cooking oil, 9 X 13 or jelly roll baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Stir at least once during cooking.

This recipe is Yummy, so if you try it let me know!