Cooking with Staci

Zucchini Bread

2011-01-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

I made this yummy zucchini bread this past weekend. Was my 1st time ever making it, and turned out really good!! Definetely a recipe I'll be making again!

Chocolate, Chocolate Cheesecake...YUM!

2011-01-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

I made this, and it was amazing!!

It's been a while since I've Food-Blogged, but I had to add this on here. This is a Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake. I got the recipe off the Godiva website, but used Ghiradelli dark chocolate instead. Still was heavenly.

Here is the recipe: www.godiva.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?id=12

This was my very first cheesecake as well, and it was so much easier to make than I ever anticipated. A bit putsy, but easy.

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-10-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

Saw this on another food blog today....it's a list of 100 things an Omnivore should try to eat.

I have done several....and want to try some of the others.

In Bold Black are the ones I have eaten. In Bold Purple are those I want to try....the others have never been tried, or may never be! I have tried 35 of the items on the list, not too shabby. I think foods like Filet and Wild Rice need to be added to the list. There are 14 I would like to try....you know stuff you see on the Food Network that looks tasty.

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile-Have had Alligator

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

Hearty Grilled Cheese

2008-09-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm one of the many who LOVE a good grilled cheese. I have been getting lots of tomatoes lately from my dad (wasn't able to grow any at my house due to squirrels this year). I have tried different cheese and different bread. The thing I love about grilled cheese is you can make it all your own, and add new things if you usually just do cheese inside.

The other night I made this with Mozzerella and American cheese, and put Tomato inside.

This weekend I made it with Colby Jack and Swiss Cheese, put tomato and Turkey inside....man were both versions tasty!!

Ingredients:

2 Slices of bread (your choice, I usually use white or wheat, whatever we have)
Cheese of your choice, there are so many to choose from!!
Any other ingredients....I tried the tomato and that was really good
Ham, turkey or roast beef if you want meat
Butter/Margarine

Just take the bread, and butter it.
Place one pc butter side down in a hot pan (usually on like medium)
Place 1st type of cheese on bread
Place other fillings on cheese, then top with more cheese
Place other pc of bread, butter side up.

Cook til golden brown, then flip (you want to hold onto the sandwich while you flip it). Then finish that side til golden brown....and all cheese is melted.

Then just cut and eat. Yum! What a great fall treat for this cool weather, and it uses up all those fresh tomatoes too! Enjoy!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

2008-09-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of food blogging lately....we've just been so busy and I haven't had time to add anything in a while. Here is a good one I tried last night though, needed something hearty for dinner, it was great! Thank You Better Crocker!

Recipe for Cream of Broccoli soup:

1-1/2 to 2 lbs Broccoli (I used some frozen, some fresh)
2 Cups Water
3/4 Cup chopped celery
1/2 Cup chopped Onion
2 Tb Butter
2 Tb Flour
2-1/2 Cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
Dash of Ground nutmeg
1/2 Cup whipping Cream (I used whole milk)
Shredded cheese for topping

1. Cut broccoli into 1 inch pcs.

2. Add broccoli, celery and onion to the 2 cups boiling water, simmer 10 minutes until tender.

3. Carefully place broccoli mixture in blender, cover and blend until smooth

4. In 3 Qt. suacepan, melt butter over Medium heat. Stir in flour, cook while stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat, stir (whisking is easier) in chicken broth....boil and stir 1 minute.

5. Stir in Broccoli mixture, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Heat just to boiling, then stir in whipping cream. Heat until hot, do not let boil!! Serve soup topped with cheese.

We used Mozzarella Cheese....made it really tasty!

Danielle's Coffee Cake

2008-09-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like Coffee cake? My husband's sister Danielle made this for Breakfast on our Girls weekend, then made it for Labor day too. It's so good, you could eat 1/2 the pan easily.

Coffee Cake
(this one you want to double if you're using a 9X13 pan)

For Cake:
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
1/3 Cup Margarine (we like to call this OLEO in honor of our Grandmothers)
1 Egg

For Topping:
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Cinnamon

For Glaze:
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
3-4 tsp Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla

Grease and Flour 9X13 Pan. You can use a 9X9 pan as well, then just make a single batch of this, which is what this recipe states.

Combine all Cake ingredients, and blend at Low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at Medium speed, and spread into pan.

Blend topping ingredients together and sprinkle over the batter

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 Minutes, or until tester comes out clean

Blend Glaze ingredients until smooth, then drizzle over top of Baked Cake.

Serve with any other breakfast accompianments, I would like to suggest the Bacon and Sausage that comes from Thielan Meats here in MN. It is Amazing meat!

Fruit Pizza (somewhat seasonal)

2008-09-03T08:45:00.001-07:00

Back from Labor Day...my sisters in law made some good eats that I wanted to share. Stuff we have often up at the cabin, and is super tasty!!

Fruit Pizza is super easy to make and goes fast, so make it for small crowd or plan on making 2!

Fruit Pizza Recipe
(this is for a single batch)

1 Roll of Sugar cookie dough-let sit out so it's soft
1 Package of cream cheese
Powdered sugar to taste
Fruit/Berries of your liking

Roll out the Sugar cookie either on a cookie sheet or pizza sheet. We always place tin foil underneath for baking, and it makes it easy to clean up when the pizza is gone. Follow baking instructions on cookie dough, remove from oven and cool completly.

Mix the cream cheese with Powdered sugar until it's as sweet as you want it. You don't need it too sweet since the fruit really adds the flavor!

Now just arrange your sliced berries/fruit on the pizza, cut and enjoy! Yummmm!!

Super Easy Banana Bread/Muffins

2008-08-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

This is my super easy recipe for Banana bread. I usually make a double batch, but the other night I only had enough bananas for a single. You will notice that I tend to make double batches in most of my baking, but only post the single batch recipe. Baking double is just so much easier and there will always be leftovers. This time I decided to make muffins instead of bread, and they turned out just as good!

Ok, now On to the Recipe:

Banana Bread

3 Ripe Bananas, Mashed
1 Cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1/2 cup Shortening or Oil (I usually just use oil)
2 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

In mixing bowl; combine mashed bananas, sugar, oil, eggs and Vanilla

Add dry ingredients, then fold in nuts (if you so choose). I rarely have nuts on hand, so I never add them to my banana bread. My mom would scold me for this! She adds nuts to everything. Oh and don't mind my little hand mixer, I do have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but it's put away right now due to our ever-long kitchen remodel.

Pour batter into greased/prepared pan (can just use a 9X5 loaf or a 12 muffin tin)

Bake at 350 degrees - test center for doneness
60 Min for a loaf
30 Min for Muffin

Remove from pan and cool on a cooling rack

You can eat these right out of the oven....with a bit of butter of course!

Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cake-Yum!

2008-08-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

I found this on another Food bloggers website (well a friend sent the link after she tried this cake out). It's simply delish. The recipe calls for you to make 2 round cakes and layer them, but in true Staci form I deviated from this. I used a European bundt pan and only needed 1 batch of the frosting. If you have a love/love relationship with Reeses, you need to try this cake!!

http://annieseats.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/reeseâs-cup-chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/

I included a link to the original recipe above for your convenience, and so you can see how the cake is "supposed" to look like.

Blackberry and Raspberry Scones

2008-08-22T10:11:00.001-07:00

Ok everyone....here is my 1st Recipe of the new blog!!

I have never made scones before, but had some Berries that I wanted to use up, so thought I would give it a try. Not too bad for my 1st time, next time I would like to find a recipe that has more of a "dough" that I can roll out and cut into pieces. If you have something, I would love to try it!

Raspberry and Blackberry Scones

Ingredients:

1 beaten egg, seperated
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
10 Tbsp Butter-chilled and cut up
1 Cup berries
1/2 cup Heavy cream/whole milk

In a small bowl mix 1/2 beaten egg, buttermilk and vanilla

In mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder & Soda, salt and sugar. Cut in butter until mixure resembles coarse cornmeal.

Gently fold in berries to flour mix

Then add buttermilk mix until loose, soft dough forms

(This will be a sticky part!!)

Form scones and placed on greased baking sheet. Brush with cream/milk and egg wash, then sprinkle with sugar

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 min.

**They look a bit more like muffin tops than scones, but taste pretty good! Can't wait to share them this weekend!

Welcome to my cooking blog!

2008-08-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Staci's cooking blog. I'm so intrigued by seeing other people's recipes, that I wanted to start my own foodie blog. I love to cook and bake, and love sharing recipes that I love making and eating!

Hope you enjoy!!!