My Love Affair with Peanut Butter Has Gone Too Far...

I hate to admit it, but I'm involved in an affair... with peanut butter.  I don't know what it is about the delicious spread, but I find it nearly irresistible.  I love putting it on apples as a healthy snack (great for post-workout) or on a banana for breakfast.  It is to DIE for melted on an english muffin, maybe with banana slices on top or honey.  Sometimes, it's simply spoon-to-mouth or if I'm desperate for lunch at work - simply mixing PB & J in a bowl (extreme desperation, I know).  And who can deny the wonderful comfort of a traditional PB & J (except for those of you with nut allergies -- sorry!).

Desperation at its finest

Well I've adapted two recipes into one to make two of my favorite things combined - cookies and peanut butter.  I decided to give up sweets for Lent (what was I thinking?), so these will be strictly to share with others.

The best part is this recipe is rather large - great for bringing baked goods into the office, for a cookie exchange party, or for a gathering of friends.  It makes about 75 decently-sized cookies (depending on how big you make the dough balls).

TIP:
I whisked the dry ingredients together instead of what the recipe called for - sifting.  I mean really, who has a sifter besides your mom?  No first apartment-renter I can think of actually owns a sifter.  So whisk away!

PEANUT BUTTERY DELICIOUSNESS COOKIES

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
16 tbsp (2 sticks!) unsalted butter (at room temp)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup creamy (I prefer crunchy) peanut butter

Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter with both sugars for about 3 min (until it's light and fluffy).
- Add the eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth and well combined... then beat in the peanut butter.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl (easiest with a rubber-tipped spatula).  Reduce the speed to low and beat in the dry flour mixture (from the beginning) in 2 batches (1/2 at first, combine well, add the other 1/2).
- Form dough into 1-in balls and place on non-stick baking sheets.  Flatten each by pressing them with the tines of a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake until golden brown on the bottom and barely colored on top (between 14-16 minutes).
- Let them cool on wire racks completely.


Now a few questions for you (really just to start the good ol' heated debate):
1. Jif or Skippy or Peter Pan
2. Creamy or Crunchy

(Personally, I grew up a Skippy Chunky, but have graduated to Jif Crunchy - partly because of Miss A!)

Dinner Tonight... Celebrate Fat Tuesday with New Orleans Creole Jambalaya

Fat Tuesday is a great day each year to celebrate one of the things I love most--FOOD!  It's the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  From Ash Wednesday to Easter, many people "fast" or abstain from certain foods or physical pleasures, for 40 days. This is done by many Christians to imitate Jesus' 40-day fast in the wilderness.

Regardless of religion, many use Fat Tuesday as an excuse to eat great food and celebrate Mardi Gras.  So in honor of any food-related holiday, I like to celebrate with an appropriate recipe.  New Orleans is the home to one of the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in the world - so what better to do than to enjoy a New Orleans style Jambalaya??


Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence.  It's like a spicy surf-and-turf if you make it with sausage and shrimp like I do.  And here's a tip -- save time by buying frozen shrimp already peeled, deveined, and tail-off; then thaw it in the refrigerator or under cold, running water when you're ready to cook!


I know the ingredients list is going to look long and intimidating - but the majority are the added spices for the New Orleans kick!  Otherwise, it's simply rice, sausage, shrimp, red bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, and chicken broth.  And I put the ingredients in order of which you add them... it's not that hard -- I promise!

New Orleans Jambalaya 

with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

(from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
6 oz andouille sausage (sliced)
1 cup uncooked long-gran wild rice
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 bay leaf
2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 can (about 15oz) no salt-added diced tomatoes (don't drain!)
1/2 lb shrimp
2 tbsp chopped, fresh parsley


Preparation:
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and sausage; saute 5 minutes (or until veggies are tender).
- Add rice and next 7 ingredients (paprika through bay leaf) and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add next 5 ingredients (chicken broth through the can of tomatoes), and bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add shrimp and cook an additional 5 minutes (make sure the shrimp are pink).
- Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Discard the bay leaf (it's only added for the flavor) and stir in some parsley.


AND VOILE!

Beads, Creole food, and lot's of fun... 

It will be a party second to none!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Roses are red, violets are blue, i love french toast, how about you??

My mom got me some of the MOST AMAZING Italian Panettone (a type of bread) from Eataly, which is a delicious Italian cafe with a true Italian market in the back (quite expansive, actually).  Anyway, she had it shipped to me in Chapel Hill all the way from NYC for Valentine's Day!

House-made bread is a specialty at Eataly.

The Panettone was more than Miss A and I could handle and mom recommended making French Toast with it -- so we did.

It came beautifully wrapped!

And looks like this when you unwrap it... ours was HUGE!

This is honestly the simplest breakfast recipe I've ever followed - besides just popping something in the microwave.  I had always been intimidated by the thought of making french toast (mainly because I had no idea how you made it), but I recommend this to even the most basic of cooks!

EASY EATALY BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients:

The Eataly Panettone... mmmmm

6 1/2in-thick slices of toast of your choice (French bread is great, or sunflower seed bread)
1/2 cup skim milk
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of ground nutmeg
brown sugar and maple syrup (to taste)

Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
- Combine milk, egg whites, vanilla, and nutmeg in a shallow bowl and beat.
- Dip the bread in the mixture, coating both sides.
- Spray a baking sheet/dish with vegetable cooking spray and place bread in a single layer
- Sprinkle brown sugar on top
- Bake for 10-12 minutes (or until lightly browned)
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top for a diner-worthy look!

Yum yum eat-em-up!

Next time I want to try variations, including: bananas, berries, pecans, etc!

...all images borrowed from the Eataly website, unless otherwise noted

101 Thursday: How to roast a fish

I check The New York Times website every morning (in addition to waking up to The Today Show and listening to NPR on my commute) to have at least some idea as to what's going on in the world.  Every now and then, the NY Times will grab my attention with some photos, giant header text, videos, etc.  This week, they posted a video perfect for a FAFK 101 Thursday

HOW TO ROAST A WHOLE FISH

Wheel of Baking...

Dinner Tonight...

A classic K and A Fave...

Strawberry Spinach Salad!

(Click here to see the original post and recipe!)

But we're mixing up the dressing this time and using the dressing we made for our 

Super Bowl Salad!!

(Click here for the dressing recipe!)

We'll let you know how it goes...

xoxo

K & A

Cow Fail

So I found a whole series of photos online of what they call "Cow Fails."  Cows are funny to begin with, but when they do silly/stupid things, they're even more entertaining.  

I'll post a few of my favorites from time to time, and hopefully put a smile on your face too!