Sparkles and Scooters and Stamps, Oh My!

There has been so much sugar here in the past week that I'm afraid my  teeth might fall out. Therefore it's time for a sugar free shop update!

I've been all about glitter and rainbows this week. In case you didn't know, I dig sparkle. I know glitter is like the herpes of the crafting world, but I can't help myself! This week you can find:

Rainbow Vespa Folded Notes

Black and White Disco Vespa Folded Notes

Rainbow Vespa Mini Notes

Leafy Green Personalized Folded Notes

I've also been treasury happy for weeks now. Don't know what a treasury is ? Oh well, my dears you are missing out! Treasuries are fun little collections of listings created by etsy members to highlight some of their favorite items and shops. Organized by theme, color, or whim, they can introduce you to really amazing new finds and help you to show off your favorites. Creating them can get very addicting, but it is so fun. Here are a few of the loveliest I've been a part of this week:

The Girl With the Dark Hair

Melts in the Mouth

She Wanted to Learn Conversational French

What are you waiting for? Get hunting through the many treasuries on etsy or create your own! Just don't blame me if you get hooked!

Persephone gets her revenge

Sure, kidnapping a girl and en-prisoning her in the Underworld isn't exactly romantic. Hades was no Casanova. But at least he had the wherewithal to feed Persephone pomegranates, even if it was a nasty trick designed to keep her coming back to him. Somehow pomegranates have morphed from the ancient form of rufies into a common ingredient in decadent, romantic desserts. I don't know what that says about us as a society, but they sure do taste good. Pair them with a luscious ingredient like dark chocolate and you have something really special. These cupcakes are my imagining of what Persephone would whip up to pass the time with Hades. She probably wouldn't give him any. I wouldn't.

Pom-Filled Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Pomegranate Mascarpone Icing

makes 10 cupcakes

For Pomegranate Curd Filling:

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. unsalted butter, cubed

3 Tbls. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. gelatin

pinch of salt

Scant 1/2 cup Pom Wonderful juice

red food coloring (optional)

Preparation:

Whisk egg yolks and a pinch of salt in a small bowl, set aside. Pour a Tbls. of the Pom juice into another small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the top to soften, set aside. Prepare an ice bath and (you guessed it!) set aside. In a small saucepan, cook remaining juice and sugar over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture comes just to a boil. Remove immediately from heat. Pour a small amount of hot juice into yolks, whisking rapidly to temper. Continue whisking in small amounts until all of juice is incorporated. Add mixture back to the pan and add butter and gelatin mixture (make sure you whisk the gelatin into that Tbls. of juice first). Continue whisking and cooking over medium heat until mixture has thickened, about 8 minutes. Pour into prepared ice bath and stir until cool. Stir in several drops of red food coloring if desired (otherwise your curd is an unsightly brown shade). Cover with plastic wrap so that it touches the surface of the curd (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate for at least an hour.

For Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

3/4 c. all purpose flour
6 Tbls. dark cocoa powder
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
scant 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbls vegetable oil6 Tbls Pom Wonderful juice

Preparation:
Line a muffin tin with paper liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sift flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Reduce speed to low and add egg, oil, milk, juice, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Pour into prepared tin. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans.

For Icing:
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/4 c. Pom Wonderful juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:In a small saucepan, heat juice over high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking until a syrup has formed, about 8 minutes. Beat butter and mascarpone until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Beat vanilla and cooled pomegranate syrup into icing until well combined.


To assemble cupcakes:
Cut a small inverted cone shape from the top of each cooled cupcake and eat them :). Fill each hole with a teaspoon of pomegranate curd and top with icing. Decorate as desired.

Print the Recipe

*The pomegranate curd alone makes an amazing treat (I had to hide it from myself while the cupcakes cooled) and I'll be folding the extra into whipped cream later to make frozen mousse. Yum!

*This is also my entry for February's Dessert Wars Challenge: Dark Chocolate and Hearts!

The February prize package includes:

Whisk  and cupcake necklace from Moon & Star Designs

The Smartshopper Electronic Grocery List Organizer

Beanilla  Sampler Pack of Vanilla Beans

Lenox Personalized Musical Cupcake

1,000 ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes

Endless Vanilla and Cinnamon Extract

Unlimited Layers: A Recipe for Turning Your Passion into Profits

Organic Valley $50 Gift Certificate

Organic Prairie $50 Gift Certificate

Theme Kitchen $50 Gift Certificate

BEKA Cookware Crepe Pan

This post is linked to:

Hearth and Soul

Love Party

Tuesday Night Supper Club

Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday at 33ShadesofGreen

Friday Flair

Crack-tastic

A quick note: I am guest posting today over at Heidi's blog, HoneyBear Lane. So exciting! Heidi is a fabulous seamstress who makes the most gorgeous quilts, and her blog is full of ideas for revamping your home or clothes, as well of tons other fun inspiration! If you are interested in making a special Little Chapel of Love Birdhouse for your Valentine this year, pop over for my tutorial! There is also a giveaway and a coupon code for my shop, so I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Chocolate. Brownies. Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts to be exact. Featured on the cover of the latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine and currently circling the foodie blogiverse like the plague. The one recipe that has ever tempted me enough to ban the box and make brownies from scratch. We've talked about this. I don't do brownies from scratch. I'm an underbaked-by-3-minutes-from-the-box kind of girl. A fudgy, gooey, moist and chocolatey brownie kind of girl. The kind that can never be created by from scratch recipe. Until now. Well played, Bon Appetit. Well played.

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts
Bon Appetit, Feb. 2011

Ingredients:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
10 Tbls. unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 tsp. salt (generous)
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into a cup measure and leveled)
2 tsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 c. plus 1 Tbls. unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Preparation:
Position rack in the lower 1/3 of oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Line 8x8x2 inch metal pan tightly with foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang, and spray with cooking spray.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until foam subsides and browned bits form on the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately add salt, sugar, cocoa, water, and vanilla, stirring to blend. Let cool 5 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, beating vigorously between additions. Once mixture looks shiny and thick, stir in flour until blended (about 60 strokes). Stir in nuts and pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean (it should have a few sticky crumbs on it). Cool in the pan on a rack. Remove from pan using foil sling and slice into 4 bars. SLice each bar into 4 pieces.

*My notes: Bob Appetit recipes amuse me. They often leave ingredients out of the ingredient list and then toss them into the steps like an afterthought (so it's a good idea to always read a B.A. recipe through before you start!).  When making these brownies, I measured the cocoa, salt, and sugar into a large bowl and set it aside. Then I measured the water and vanilla into a bowl. Once the butter was browned, I poured it into the large bowl of cocoa mix, tossed in the vanilla mix and stirred. I didn't feel like doing that part in a pan. I also do not have an 8x8 metal pan, only a glass one. I used a 9x5 metal pan and had to bake them about 8 minutes longer than called for. Go with your gut here, and you will be rewarded.

These were so incredible, even the next day! Like chocolate crack. All they needed for me to be in total bliss was a scoop of coffee ice cream. Do it.

This post is linked to:
Simple Lives Thursday

Everything is better on a stick...

especially humble (dare I say, trashy?) snack foods. Hot dogs are better on a stick, especially when battered and fried. Snickers bars, too. And Twinkies. And everyone knows there is no heaven like a perfectly toasted marshmallow on a stick. But it's not always summer time and we don't all have wood burning stoves. Some of us are currently frozen inside of our homes thanks to several inches of ice, and while a roaring fire would sure be nice, it ain't happening. I can microwave the you-know-what out of some chocolate though, so there is hope for today (hope and Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts, but we'll get to those later!).

My darling little cousin Owen gets to hand out my Little Monster Valentines to his preschool class next week, so I had to make him something a little special to go with them. No pencils for my buddy! These chocolate coated marshmallow stirrers were just the thing. This is certainly not a recipe, but it is an excellent way to put the snowed in kiddos to work if they are getting cabin fever. Just be careful, you might end up with most of them in your mouth, even if they are meant for stirring into cups of hot cocoa!

Chocolate Marshmallow Cocoa Stirrers

Ingredients:

1 bag of large marshmallows
1 bag of grill skewers or long lollipop sticks
2 cups of chocolate chips or candy melts
Assorted sprinkles
Baker's twine
Plastic treat bags.
Wax paper

Preparation:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and pour sprinkles into a shallow dish. Stick a marshmallow on all of the skewers.

Pour chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds. Stir and continue heating in 30 second intervals until chocolate is just about melted. It will continue to melt as you stir after about 2 minutes of total heat.

Dunk marshmallows into the melted chocolate, turning and tapping to allow excess to drip off. Dun into sprinkles and stand on baking sheet. Continue dipping until they are all coated. If you move slowly, you may need to zap the chocolate for another few seconds in between dips!

Let stand for about an hour before wrapping them in a plastic treat bag and tying with a length of baker's twine.

And there you have it! Cocoa stirrers ready for sliding through your Valentines and passing out at school! You can do these with milk, white, or dark chocolate (coloring white chocolate with red or pink would be very cute!) add some peppermint extract to your chocolate, or add nuts or other candies. My only wish is that I could stir one into a big mug of hot chocolate spiked with Bailey's and topped with fresh whipped cream right now. *sigh* But that kind of behavior is frowned upon :) Soon, baby, soon!

Time for an Update

I've decided to update my goals a bit when it comes to this bliggity blog.  I'll post a shop update only once a week at most, so that those of you who are really here for the food won't get too overwhelmed by it. And once or twice a week I will go back to my standard recipe sharing, hopefully drool inspiring food posts, so that those of you who visit from Etsy won't get to confused by all of the sugar and garlic that shows up here. Why not just create a separate blog, you may ask? Dude. Come on. I can hardly handle one blog. I can hardly handle getting dressed. I wore pajamas until 2:00 this afternoon. Then I changed into sweats. Just keepin' it real.

Since I've got all of that in writing, I'll try my hardest to stick to it. And now for a shop update! I have listed a bunch of new items in the shop since I opened, and am working on several new things about which I am hugely excited. My friend Shannon has asked me to design her wedding invitations, so I finally get to do another set! The design will then be available for custom order. Until then, here's a taste of the newest listings I've created:

Recycled Chalkboard Flat Note Cards - available in red or white, with more colors coming!

DIY Color Me Pencil and Pop Valentines - available in several styles

Vintage Glamour Gift Tags/Mini Notes

Aqua Geometric Floral Flat Notes - available in singles or sets

Remember that if you order anything from the shop by February 8th I will send you a Valentine of your choice for free! Just add the code SNICKER when you check out. 

And you still have time to enter my Grand Opening Giveaway here!

I've created a Facebook page for the shop, and as always appreciate your "likes." As lame as that sounds. You can also follow me on Twitter. Both places are linked in my left sidebar and will be good spots to find more giveaways and discount codes, as well as daily updates of new listings and treasuries. I even created a newsletter, but I can't figure out the link to give you to sign up for it. I'm kinda tech challenged. Duh.

This post is linked to:

Market Yourself Monday

Give it to me Monday

Great Giveaway Gathering

Mingle Monday

Bringing Sweet Back

• I haven't done any baking since the holidays. I put myself on a baking ban after I failed my silly little glucose scan at 30 weeks and then had to sit through a three hour long visit to the blood center. It involved fasting. And chugging "fruit punch" from the bottle. And needles. Many needles. I don't do needles.
• 
  

I do however, do cookies. As soon as I found out that I passed the blood screen from hell and don't have gestational diabetes (Woo!), I picked up my food magazines. Maybe it's weird to celebrate passing a glucose test by baking sugar filled cookies rolled in more sugar, but that just made perfect sense to me. The January issue of Bon Appetit includes an adorable little feature on a Rocky Mountain Ski party, full of snow boots and skiers smiling and feasting on delights like these:

photo Bon Appetit

Oh hells yes. I don't do skiing. I don't do vacations in the snow. But as I said, I do do cookies. These were perfection on yet another snowy day in the dirty Jerz. Thankfully, it didn't snow quite enough for an early dismissal, so no kids got in the way of my baking these. Crispy on the edges, soft in the center, with little chewy surprise bits from the crystalized ginger... So amazing dunked in a mug of hot tea!

Triple Ginger Cookies

Bon Appetit Magazine, January 2011 

• Ingredients:
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening 
• 1/4 cup light molasses
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
• Raw sugar (for rolling)
• 
  

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. 
  
  
  Whisk first 5 ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon salt* in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and shortening in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in molasses, egg, and fresh ginger. Stir in crystallized ginger, then dry ingredients.
  
  
• Fill small shallow bowl with raw sugar. Using moist hands, shape 1 teaspoonful dough into ball; roll in raw sugar. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies 2 inches apart.
• 
  Bake cookies until golden and dry-looking, about 15 minutes. Cool on sheets.
  
  
  *Note: in the magazine, this recipe calls for no salt, thus, I didn't use any. The online version of the recipe includes it in the preparation steps, but not in the list of ingredients. Typo? Change of plans? Idon't know, but add it or don't, these will still be incredible!
  
  
  *P.S. Don't forget to enter my Valentine's Giveaway by Feb.1st! 
  
  
  This post is linked to:
  Hearth and Soul

  Friday Potluck

  Whipperberry's Friday Flair

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Big News and a Giveaway!

Remember  that back burner project I mentioned last week? The one that I've been sitting on for years? Well, I'm finally ready to make it happen, and I'm so excited to spill the beans! I'm finally opening an etsy shop!

jojobean designs - papergoods and gifts!

When E and I were planning our wedding, I bought a Gocco (a tiny Japanese printing press) to print our invitations and fell instantly in love. It became a bit of an obsession, really. Since then it's been almost four years, and I've made invitations for friends and family members, as well as tons of other projects. I received lots of great feedback, and people were always asking me, "When are you going to start selling these?" Right now! Maybe it's crazy to open an etsy shop when you are expecting a baby in a couple of months, but I know if I don't do it now, I won't ever do it. I resolved to stop procrastinating and start making things happen. It's been a lot of work and a lot of trial and error, but I am determined to do this right.

In that spirit, I'd love for you all to take a look at the shop! You can also visit my Facebook Page and become a fan! Here are a few of the things I've posted so far, with many more to come (hopefully a new item each day).

Eye Heart Ewe Valentines

Sign Language Valentines

Little Monster Pencil and Pop Valentines

Mehndi Flat Note Cards

Louise Custom Bridal Shower Invitations

Custom Altered Art Portrait Canvases

As  a thank you for all of the support you guys have given me over the last four years, I'm hosting a special Grand Opening Giveaway for my followers! I'm giving away a set of Gocco printed gift tags, plus a single Valentine card of your choice. Just leave me a comment letting me know you're a follower! Don't forget to leave me your email so that I can contact you.  I'll choose a winner via random.org on Febrary 1st.

As a little added bonus : If you make a purchase by February 8th, I will toss in a Valentine Card of your choice for free. Just type in the code SNICKER when you check out!

Sunday Mornings

... are all about lazy hanging around the house in the winter. I love to hang on the couch with coffee and cozy food for breakfast. I do not love the work that can go into my favorite foods though. Sometimes I'm too lazy to make pancakes. I'm always too lazy to make sticky buns. There will be no kneading of dough or chopping of nuts on Sunday mornings. There can still be crazy good indulgent breakfast food though, with a tad bit of foresight. I threw this casserole dish into the fridge last night, already salivating over the idea of curling up on the couch with a hunk of it. I pulled it out of the fridge while I made coffee, ate a banana to calm to kicking belly beast while it baked, and was in heaven by 8:30 AM. Yeah, there's no Sunday sleeping in anymore since the bean wakes up at 6:30 and he's still in utero. E and I are in for it.


Pear and Gouda Baked French Toast


Ingredients:
1 small loaf of French of Italian bread, preferably a few days old, cubed
6 eggs
1 1/2 c. vanilla soy milk
1 c. low fat milk
2 Tbls. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2-3 ripe pears, cubed
1 c. shredded Gouda, divided
2 Tbls butter, cubed and syrup for serving

Preparation:
Toss bread and pear cubes to combine and spread evenly in a buttered 9x9 inch baking dish. Whisk eggs, milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon and 1/2 c. Gouda. Pour over bread and cover with foil. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Remove dish from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dot with butter and bake covered for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Discard foil, sprinkle with remaining shredded Gouda and return to the oven until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven to rest for a few minutes before serving drizzled with warm maple syrup.

Print the recipe

Knock knock... Is this thing on?

Long time no see. After a lovely, long holiday break, I decided it was time for a blog break, y'all. I did a lot of re-evaluating over my vacation and realized that the amount of time I spend reading blogs, writing blog posts, editing, and obsessing is just ridiculous. Ri-dic-u-lous. I needed a dose of reality. Our baby bean is due at the end of March, baby classes began last week, we have a nursery to finish, and many plans to make. I also realized that a soon to be revealed project that has been sitting on the back burner for literally years needed to come to fruition now. So I've been deleting my Google Reader posts. Checking them all as read. Not commenting on other blogs. Not starring recipes to make later. And now I'm almost all caught up with real life. Phew. I'm still cooking though, (a girl's gotta eat!) and I did get a meat grinder, sausage stuffer, and immersion blender for my birthday (E knows me too well). Food will appear here, maybe once a week, maybe not, but I'm not putting any pressure on myself. I'm not going to worry about deadlines for contests or blog hops, and I'm only posting things that are slam dunks.

Like this salmon. Fricking delicious. And I thought I hated salmon!


Eli's Asian Salmon - Two Ways

adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients:

2 lbs. wild caught salmon filet

1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce

1/4 c. rice vinegar

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbls. fish sauce

1 Tbls. sesame oil 

1 1/2 tsp. garlic chili sauce

2 Tbls. minced fresh ginger

2 Tbls. minced garlic

1 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs

Preparation:

Line a baking sheet with foil and lay salmon on top. Whisk all ingredients exept for salmon and bread crumbs until combined. Pour about 1/4 cup of the soy marinade over the salmon. Top with bread crumbs. Spoon another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the marinade over the bread crumbs until they are all saturated. Spoon any fallen topping back onto the fish. Set aside for 15 minutes. Reserve remaining marinade for tomorrow's recipe.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Bake marinated salmon for 18 - 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve hot and reserve half for tomorrow's recipe.

Print this recipe

Asian Salmon Cakes with Soy Mayo

Ingredients:

1 lb. reserved Asian Salmon

Reserved soy marinade

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c. plus 2 Tbls. mayonnaise, divided

1/4 c. finely chopped onion

1/4 c. grated carrot

1/4 c. finely diced green pepper

olive oil

Preparation:

Flake cooked salmon with a fork and set aside in a large mixing bowl. In a skillet, heat a Tbls. of olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until tender. Add peppers and carrot and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add to salmon in mixing bowl. Add egg, 2 Tbls. of reserved marinade, panko, and 1/4 c. mayo and toss to combine. Form into four equally sized patties and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Whisk remaining mayo with another Tbls. of soy marinade and reserve for serving.

Heat 2-3 Tbls. olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once oil shimmers, reduce heat to medium and add salmon cakes. Cook  about 3-4 minutes per side, until browned and warmed through. Serve with greens and Soy Mayo.

 Print this recipe

This post is linked to:

Friday Potluck

Fresh Clean and Pure Friday

I'm Lovin It

Weekend Blog Hop