Work At Home Musings

Since I just mentioned that we love to bake holiday cookies at our house, I thought I would tell you one that I think I will try this year. It is a chocolate cookie with caramel sandwiched in between. After all this holiday baking, I will have to look for the best weight loss supplements!

Here is the recipe from Everyday Food:

* FOR COOKIES
* 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
* 1 large egg yolk
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* FOR FROSTING
* 1/4 cup Caramel Sauce, cooled
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until pale and fluffy; stir in egg yolk.
2. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir flour mixture into butter mixture until a dough forms. Drop dough by level teaspoons, 1 inch apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets.
3. Bake until cookies are puffed and cracked, about 8 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Remove sheets from oven and tap firmly on a counter to flatten cookies. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.)
4. Make frosting: In a bowl, beat together caramel and butter with a wooden spoon until smooth; gradually beat in confectioners sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on flat sides of half the cookies and top with remaining cookies.

I don’t know if this works or not, but I just heard about a new acne treatment called Zeno. It actually heats the skin up to 120 degrees for two minutes. Supposedly this kills the bacteria and reduces inflammation of the pores. The device runs for about $150-$200 and does not work for all acne. You can feel the heat from the device and it could be uncomfortable. While it does not burn the skin, it can leave red marks. Interesting concept, but not sure how effective it would be.

I have started to make my own whey shakes in the morning for breakfast. They are much tastier than the pre-made shakes (such as Slim-Fast). The trick is to always add 1/2 a frozen banana to the mix. This really does cut the taste of the whey. Go to your frozen foods section and you can find a variety of fruit already cut up into pieces for use with the shakes.

Whey Shakes
1 scoop of whey protein powder
1 cup soy milk (vanilla)
1 cup frozen fruit
1/2 frozen banana

Cut up bigger pieces of fruit and then put all ingredients into a blender. Blend together and enjoy!

Are you all finished with your Christmas Shopping? I think I am. I still have teacher presents to complete and I am making a small child’s quilt for my daughter’s American Girl Doll. A friend of mine just finished making 90 lemon poppy seed mini loaves for Christmas presents. Her trick is to use the cheap disposable aluminum pans for a even bake:

6 Tablespoons milk
6 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons loosely packed lemon zest
6 Tablespoons poppyseeds
26 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Lemon Syrup
1/2 plus 4 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a large, fluted tube pan or 6 mini loaf pans or grease 2 standard loaf pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. Lightly combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest in a medium-sized bowl.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the poppy seeds. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Then add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium (high if you are using a hand mixer), and beat for 1 minute.

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the surface with a spatula. (The batter will be almost 1/2 inch from the top of a 4-cup loaf pan. If your pan is slightly smaller, use any excess batter for cupcakes.)

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes.

7. Shortly before the cake is done, prepare the Lemon Syrup: In a small pan over medium heat, stir the sugar and lemon juice together until the sugar has dissolved.

8. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, place the pan on a wire rack, and brush it with half the syrup. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes.

9. Loosen the sides of the cake with a spatula, and invert it onto a greased wire rack. Brush it with some syrup, and reinvert onto a greased wire rack. Brush the sides with the remaining syrup and allow the cake to cool completely.

10. Store the cake for 24 hours, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap (to give the syrup a chance to distribute evenly). Serve at room temperature.

Note: Tightly wrapped, the cake will keep for 3 days at room temperature, 1 week in the refrigerator, and 2 months in the freezer.

We don’t consume alcohol at our house and I am always coming across recipes that ask for alcohol. Even if you do imbibe, you may not have on hand the necessary alcoholic ingredient. I found a great list for Alcohol Cooking Substitutes. For instance, did you know that you can substitute beer you can substitute ginger ale? Or for sherry you can substitute orange or pineapple juice. This is a great list to print out and keep in your cookbooks.

Here is a spooky Halloween drink that will make any Halloween Party successful:

In a four cup ring mold add gummy worms. Into the mold pour in prepared pineapple-orange juice (from a 6 oz frozen can) to just cover the worms (this will keep them at the top of the mold). Freeze for 1 hour. Pour in the remaining juice and freeze until frozen.

In a punch bowl prepare a 12 oz frozen can of pineapple-orange juice. Add 12 oz of apricot nectar. Add two 12 oz cans of Sprite or other lemon-lime type soda. Unmold the ice ring and add to the punch bowl.

I have never been a big fan of fish, but I found this great Tilapia Recipe online. Tilapia has few calories and fat (3.5 oz contains 2.4g fat and 98 calories). Plus, Tilapia is high in protein. This is a great item for those that are on a diet. The site contains about 20 recipes, but my favorite has to be Pecan Crusted Tilapia.

What is great about this recipe, is that you can use it for both pan frying and baking. It uses crushed pecans and lemon to give it a great flavor. It only takes about 10 minutes to cook, so the food is ready quickly. This recipe can also be used for chicken and it tastes great!

I learn something new everyday. Today I learned that there is regular green tea and then there is something called organic matcha. This is green tea leaves that are processed and the veins removed which results in a fine talc like substance that is neon green in color. Matcha is used during tea ceremonies.

Usucha is a type of organic matcha which is served during tea ceremonies. It is a thinner tea and stronger tasting. Koicha is used to make a thicker tea and is more expensive. I have often heard about the benefits of green tea, but had no idea that there were different types and uses. You learn something new everyday!

When I was growing up, my mom used to do all kinds of baking. She had some terrific cake, pie and cookie recipes. I used to bake a lot more often. I loved making cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies and other baked goods.

Now it seems that I don’t have the time to bake anymore. I need to set some time aside so that I can at least teach my kids how to make some baked goods. It might be something that they actually enjoy. Having the baked goods in the house though, is a little tempting. You know that those calories add up!

I am always looking for a good place to find new recipes for my family for dinner. CookingSpot.com offers thousands of recipes on their site. The site is searchable and you can create an account and save all the recipes that you like in your own online cookbook. After you register you can also share recipes and rate recipes. I found a yummy Chewy Caramel Bars recipe that I am going to try out!