Too pretty to eat: dress cake

I was wandering through Pinterest today, when I found this lovely cake:

          

Source: thedisneyprincess.tumblr.com via Audrey on Pinterest

I LOVE this cake. It's like a grown up version of a Barbie cake. It combines my two favorite things: fashion, and cake, I mean food. Who am I kidding? Cake is my favorite food. I would love this for my birthday!

Laura's peanut butter balls

My husband, Josh has been craving some peanut butter balls lately. His Mom and his sister make them sometimes. They are a delicious no bake "cookie". They are kind of more like a crunchy truffle if you will. Definitely not cookie like, but I have no idea what else to call it. They are crunchy peanut butter centers dipped in chocolate. Perfect for the peanut butter lover like me. Josh sent me a recipe, and I came up with my own variation.

Here's my recipe:

1.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil. 
2. Measure out 2 cups unfrosted corn flakes, and crush into smaller pieces. I used a pastry cutter for this, which worked great.
   
3. Combine crumbled corn flakes with 2/3 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 stick of softened unsalted butter, and 2/3 cups of either smooth or chunky peanut butter (I used natural peanut butter and it worked fine) using either a wooden spoon or your hands. I had to kneed it at the last bit with my hands.
   
4. Shape peanut butter mix into approximately 1-inch balls and place them on prepared cookie sheet.
5. Melt about a cup and half chocolate chips in the microwave until completely melted, Stiring every 30 seconds. 
6. Using a spoon, gently roll one  cookie at a time in the melted chocolate, until coated.
   
7. Place it back on parchment-lined sheet. Repeat with the remaining cookies, adding more chopped peanuts as needed (about 1 cup in total for this recipe)
8. Put them in the freezer for about an hour or so. I think they taste better that way.  Store in airtight container. 

Spinach and Red Lenil Soup

I love making soup. Soup has to be one of the easiest meals to prepare.  Delicious and filling, and oh  so easy to make. One of my standby recipes is this spinach and lentil soup that I found on allrecipes.com Mine is a variation made with red lentils. It cooks much faster than other varieties, so dinner will be in your belly  much quicker. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups water
• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
• 1 1/4 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
• 1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Directions 

In a large saucepan, saute carrots and onion in oil until tender. Add the water, salsa, lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in spinach; simmer 5-10 minutes until spinach is no longer frozen and soup is hot.

Laura's Brownie Biscotti

So I have a confession to make...I used to hate chocolate. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but I just wasn't thrilled about it. Then I got pregnant with my son Logan over 7 years ago, and my whole taste for for foods got shook up. Suddenly chocolate was just simply delicious. That love has still never gone away. So now, at least half the stuff I make is chocolaty.
The other day I decided to try making one of my favorite chocolaty treats: chocolate biscotti. I used to buy them once in awhile, but I few years ago, I decided to stop buying treats all the time to save money. So now, if I want something, I try to see if I can make it. I had found a recipe for it on Allrecipes.com a long time ago, and finally decided to give it a go.
They turned out perfectly! I couldn't believe it! It actually looked AND tasted like biscotti! It was such a hit with my hubby, that he begged me to make more the next day. Here are a few pictures of the finished product:

They are surprisingly easy to make, and much cheaper than buying one at a coffee shop where they are normally around 2 bucks a pop.  During the second time making it, I tweaked the recipe to suit my needs. here is what I came up with:

 Laura's Brownie Biscotti

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• about 2/3 cup any flavor chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Dough will be stiff, so mix in the last bit by hand.
3. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Shape into 9x2x1 inch loaves. Place onto baking sheet 4 inches apart. Brush with mixture of water and yolk.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.
5. Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1 inch slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, placing them on their sides. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until dry.
6.  After cooling completely, place the chocolate chips on a plate and microwave until melted, stirring every 30 seconds.
7. Then dip flat side of each biscotti in the chocolate. Put in the refrigerator to set. If you have extra chocolate  remaining, place in a plastic baggie, then cut small tip off a corner, to drizzle over the biscotti. Return to the refrigerator to set again. Then enjoy!
8. Store the remaining in an airtight container. 

There you go! Hope you love them as much as we do!

Food Glorious Food.

Hello. My name is Laura. I love to eat food, and I LOVE making it.
Growing up, at a young age I was always in the kitchen making chocolates, cakes, and etc. I was always more of a desert maker than a cook, but now I love to do both. But I still love making deserts more of course.
Every time I visited my Mom and Dad I would plunk down onto the couch and watch nothing but The Food Network. (I didn't have cable.) That makes my Mom think that I'm crazy. I just love all things food. I read about it, watch it, and make it. That's why I decided to make this blog.
I love making new things. Trying a new twist on an old classic. I love it to be different, and exciting. For Thanksgiving, we don't do pumpkin pie, we do pumpkin cheesecake pie. And for Christmas we don't do regular apple pie, we do mock apple pie. (made with Ritz crackers instead of apples.) It's all about trying something new.
I love baking and cooking so much that I decided to share it with the world. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I will.
Till then, here's what I want to make now:

Cheesy Potato Bites

Source: stolenmomentscooking.com via Laura on Pinterest

Mozzarella, basil, tomato grilled cheese sandwitches YUM!

Source: foodgawker.com via Mikaela on Pinterest

Pot of Gold Cupcakes

Source: grinandbakeit.com via Laura on Pinterest

Samoas cupcakes

Source: spice-is-nice.com via Laura on Pinterest

I don't know about you, but I'm super hungry now!