spicy carrot soup with garlic croutons

i had a bunch of carrots left over from that time i made split pea soup. i know carrots can survive for a while before going bad but since that's almost a month ago, i figure i'd use them to make soup. i have this amazing soup book that i pretty much use for every soup i make (link here if you wanna purchase it: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Soup-Bible-Anne-Sheasby/dp/0760774498). i was scanning through all the carrot soup recipes, but settled on the spicy carrot soup with garlic croutons. it's flavored with coriander, cumin, and hot chili powder...some of my favorite spices. it also called for vegetable stock but i used beef instead. i added a little more of the spices than the recipe asked for to give it a bit more flavor. i really enjoyed it and i think ryan did too. i gotta make soup to sneak him vegetables somehow!

philadelphia style (no egg) chocolate ice cream

i haven't posted anything in a while. it's not because i haven't been cooking anything, it's cuz i've been forgetting to update. i've been making a lot of french toast and pancakes with the raw milk & fresh eggs i get from the farm. the pancakes are da bomb and they are a bright yellow color from the eggs. mmmm!

today i decided to make chocolate ice cream since i have an ice cream maker and almost never use it. i found this recipe for philadelphia style ice cream meaning it's a no egg recipe. after my ice cream maker taking a long ass time to churn, it finally turned into ice cream. i have to say i am disappointed. it's not horrible but it's not that great. for as long as it took to make the ice cream, i would expect it to be better. it definitely taste like it's missing something and i can't help but think it's the egg. i should have just spent the money on some haagen daaz.

1 cup milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/3 cup bittersweet/semi-sweet chocolate

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

If you don't have an ice cream maker, click here.

Heat milk (stove or microwave) until it just begins to bubble.

Meanwhile, process chocolate in a food processor or blender until the chocolate is finely chopped.

Mix chocolate and sugar.

Combine hot milk and chocolate mixture and blend until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Cool.

Once cool, stir in heavy cream and vanilla.

Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Pour mixture into your ice cream maker.

Mix in ice cream machine for 25-30 minutes or according to manufacturer's instructions.

lemon icebox cake

for new years i made a lemon icebox cake. it was actually supposed to be a lemon lime icebox cake but i didn't have lime jello. an icebox cake is when a cake needs to be refrigerated because it has either pudding, whipped cream, or jello in it. ryan and i have been on a jello instant pudding trip lately, dunno how that started, so i figured i'd make an icebox cake.

1 3-ounce package lime gelatin

1 18.25-ounce-package lemon cake mix

Topping

1 envelope whipped topping mix (2- to 2 1/2-cup yield) or two 8-ounce tubs of Cool Whip

1 3-ounce package lemon instant pudding mix

1 1/2 cups cold whole milk (omit milk if using Cool Whip)

Dissolve gelatin in 3/4 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 cup cold water and set aside.

Mix and bake cake as directed in a 9-by-13-by-2-inch pan. Cool cake 20 to 25 minutes.

Poke holes through top of warm cake (still in pan) with a drinking straw. Space holes about 1 inch apart. With a measuring cup with a spout, slowly pour gelatin mixture into holes. Refrigerate cake while preparing topping.

Topping

In a chilled, deep bowl, mix either by hand or in a mixer the whipped topping mix, instant pudding and cold milk until stiff, 3 to 8 minutes. If using Cool Whip topping, mix in a blender with the instant lemon pudding mix and omit the milk. Mix well, about 5 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl so the pudding mix is well incorporated.

Immediately frost cake and store in refrigerator at least four hours. Cake is best served chilled. Frosted cake may be frozen for a month or refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

of course i made my own changes to the recipe. i used lemon instead of lime gelatin. i never used whipped topping or cool whip in a recipe so i substituted with 16 oz of heavy whipping cream and threw the instant pudding in there and then blended it up. it's just like making fresh whipped cream except the flavor is from the instant pudding and not sugar. the cake is pretty good and there is a ton of it. the gelatin makes the cake really moist. i usually don't bake premade cake mixes but i did this time and i realized it doesn't really save as much time as you'd think if i had made it from scratch.

streusel apple coffee cake

i baked this a few nights ago for a company xmas party. we were about to watch black swan and i wanted to bake it before we did because i didn't have any time to bake it before the party. i used a ton of grease on the pan and then floured it because i didn't want the cake to stick. well that did really work. when it was done i follow the directions to pop it out and the bottom half disconnected from the top where the streusel is. so i just left it in the tube pan and said fuck it, it still tastes good. how can u go wrong with a ton of streusel? i really need to work on my presentation for baked goods. anyways, i took it to this party and most people chose to eat individually packaged cobblers and cookies because they didn't want to cut into this messy cake. oh wells, more for me.

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

16 ounces plain low-fat yogurt

2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and finely diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.

To make streusel: In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, 3/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a fork until crumbly. Stir in walnuts.

In a medium bowl, stir together 3 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Then stir in the vanilla and yogurt. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until blended.

Pour 3 cups of the batter into the Bundt pan, sprinkle with 1/4 of the streusel, and layer with apples. Sprinkle with 1/2 the remaining streusel. Pour in the remaining batter, and top with the remaining 1/4 streusel. Lightly pat the top layer of streusel so it sticks to the cake batter.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Place cookie sheet over pan and carefully invert both. Remove Bundt pan, and let the cake cool completely.

split pea and ham soup

i made a huge pot of split pea and ham soup. we had all this leftover ham and ham hock from thanksgiving that we froze so i used that. i got the recipe from the ultimate soup bible by anne sheasby. that cookbook is great for people that love making soup. i basically doubled the split pea and ham soup recipe, but i added some of my own touches. i also put the ham in before i blended the soup instead of after. i wish i waited, but i already had the ham in there. the soup had the nice smoky flavor from the ham and bacon. in the end i topped the soup with some sour cream, a little soup garnish that gillian showed me. it's only because we're obsessed with sour cream, her more than i because i think she opens a carton of sour cream and eats it with a spoon. anyways, i like the way the soup came out for my first time making split pea soup. i'm happy i have a lot of leftovers and i realized i have got to make soup more often.

vanilla pudding cupcakes

i didn't know what to bake for a company christmas party, so i asked the kid i'm working with and he suggested cupcakes. i usually don't bake vanilla cupcakes so i decided to try these. they were very flavorful vanilla cupcakes even without the vanilla bean. they cake itself taste pretty buttery even though there is no butter in them.

vanilla bean cupcakes

32-36 cupcake papers

3 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla pudding mix

1 3/4 cups plus

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups canola or vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoons vinegar

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup warm water

Seeds from half a vanilla bean

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange paper cups in muffin tins. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and pudding mix into large bowl. Using an electric mixer on low, mix sugar, oil and buttermilk until blended. Add lightly beaten eggs, vinegar, vanilla and water and blend. Gradually add dry ingredients. Scrape the seed from the vanilla bean into batter and mix until just blended.

Spoon batter into tins, about 3/4 full. Bake cupcakes, 1 sheet at a time, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-23 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to racks and cool before frosting.

Vanilla Bean Frosting

8 Tablespoons (one stick) softened butter

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 pound (3 3/4 cups) confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 pinches salt

Seeds from half a vanilla bean

In a small bowl, combine butter and whipping cream. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the butter. Beat until smooth. Beat in sugar 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Finally, beat in vanilla extract. If frosting is too soft to work with, refrigerate 10 minutes.

(i also added some vanilla pudding mix into the frosting)

peanut butter nutella oatmeal cookies

this is not a pile of cow pie, this is a stack of cookies on a plate. my cell phone camera kind of sucks. for the record, these cookies were yummy. well, except that i burned the bottoms a bit. i used a greased cookie sheet when i shouldn't have. oh well, now i know not to do that same next time. nutella, i love u so! i might make then into sandwich cookies with nutella in the middle.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy and loved the added texture it gave!)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3 spoonfuls of nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mix butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add into flour mixture and stir. Slowly stir nutella into the mixture.

2. Place batter in spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool shortly before serving