Balsamic Bruschetta

Balsamic Bruschetta 

Just thinking about the freshly diced tomatoes, laying beautifully on top the crisp and crunchy,toasted slice of bread makes my mouth water. The fresh tomatoes go perfectly with the toasted bread. It is very simple to make bruschetta, and it is an easy appetizer for a dinner party with family or even just for a midday snack! Balsamic brushchetta is a very tasty dish the is surprisingly easy to make. down below is a recipe for making balsamic brushchetta. Follow the steps and you will be sure to have yourself an amazing dish!


Ingredients

• 8  (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon olive oil 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced

Directions

1. In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, basil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Mix in the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Serve on toasted bread slices.               

Now, doesn't this recipe seem really simple to do. Well it is! I tried do make this recipe for my family and it was really easy. It was not time consooming either! It only took about 15 minutes to prepare this mouth watering treat. So go, get off the computer and start slicing those tomatoes!


Make sure to try out this recipe and comment on what you thought! ENJOY!
Check out this website for more delicious recipes and tips.
http://allrecipes.com/

Home Made Egg Nog

I Love The Holidays!

"Santa Claus, Is Coming To Town!" It's the holiday season! So enough there will be snow on the ground and it will be time making snow men! I celebrate Christmas and we always celabrate at my house. We have all of the family come over on Christmas Eve. My mom makes dinner and at 12 oclock pm we open gifts. Me, personaly love one paticular drink that is always sure to be at the dinner table. I love egg nog! The creamy delious taste always puts a big smaile on my face! Below is my own recipe on how to make homemade egg nog.

Ingredients:
2 eggs,
3 tbs of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1/8 tsp of nutmeg, ground
2 1/3 cups of milk

3 Simple Steps
First take the to eggs and beat them well
Second, add the proper amount of sugar, milk, vanilla, nutmeg and milk to the bowl that has the beated eggs in side.
Third, blend the ingredents all together and serve chilled.

This recipe is brough to you by my mom. (Who, by the way LOVES eggnog)

Garlic Mashed Potatos

Thanksgiving mashed potatos are always loved by the family!Your always left with the bowl cleaned out withh nothing in it but spoon. And your mother-in-law constantly asking what the recipe is. Well for all the guys and gals out there that got stuck with having thanksgiving at there house this year, here is a delicious way to pull together a thanksgiving feast with a big bowl of garlic mashed potatoes

The creamy, and buttery mashed potatoes will just melt in your mouth. These garlic mashed potatos are sure to make your taste buds dance!

To make a delicious bowl of mashed potatoes you have to know exactly what to ingredients to put together. So, follow this recipe and I am sure you will and up loving love mashed potatoes as much as I do!



Ingredients 

• 3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) half-and-half
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 ounces grated Parmesan

Directions

Peel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the same size. Place in a large saucepan, add the salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

Heat the half-and-half and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water. Mash and add the garlic-cream mixture and Parmesan; stir to combine. Let stand for 5 minutes so that mixture thickens and then serve.

Cook time: 50 mins.

10-12 servings

  Recipe found on:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/creamy-garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Eye Ball, Anyone?

Halloween Treat

Its almost time for halloween! That means bags and bags of candy for everyone! Sweet treats are always the best ones. But no one knows how to serve a real treat on halloween except...for me. I have been having halloween parties for a long time. It is very fun to plan all the spooky things that will go on through out the evning. But I have always had a favorite party of planning. For some reason the part is always the last step. Picking out what delightful dssert will be served to our guest that night. I make sure this is a very unniqe and yummy treat. Not the 2 moth old chocolate cake you found in your fridge. It needs to be a spooky and nice looking treat that guest will be amazed by.

Eye Ball Anyone?

Here are the easy steps on how to make one of my favorite Halloween treats! This particular dessert is name Eyeball Ice cream! All you need to make this "EYE catching" ice cream is. A bowl, M&M's and GEL. The first step to making this is to get a bowl and put ONLY one scoop of ice cream in it. Then you take your choice of M&M color  and drop it rite in the middle! Lastly you take the GEL, and make sqiqqly lines representing the veins. Make the lines coming outward from the M&M.)

PIZZA!! PIZZA!!

Your Kitchen Has Just Transformed Into The Pizzeria

Take out the dough and and start rolling because it's time to make some homemade pizza! Everyboby likes pizza but pizza made in your own house is to dye for! You can't go wrong with this pizza! There is no way for the pizza man to mess up you order because you, are the pizza man! This is great because you are garenteed your perfect pizza no matter what! You can make this pizza your way and add any crazy ingrediant that suite your taste!

This Is How To Make It!

You only need about 4 items to create the pizza lovers dream.  Dough (either store bought or homemade, both are delicious) pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and the toppings you would like! This first step to making this your perfect pizza is grab some dough. Roll out the dough into any shape you would like. I enjoy shaping my pizza dough into all crazy shapes! Like rectangles, hearts,squares but if you want to be  boring you can shape it into a circle. ( what fun is that?!?!)  Then you pour some pizza sauce onto you dough and spread it all around with a spoon. WARNING: After you are done spreading out the sauce you may be tempted to lick the spoon!  ( I am guilty) Now were up the 3rd step. Open the door to your fridge because now it is time to add chess to you sauce creation. Take about 2 handfuls of shredded cheese and sprinkle it all over you sauce. Get ready for the most tasty step of all........ TOPPINGS!!! Pepperoni, sausage, pineapple , spinach, green peppers, red peppers, black olives, or a pizza supreme. These are all delisious ways to "top" of your perfect pizza creation.

     If you decide to make this please tell me what crazy topping you added so maybe I can try it out myself! Thanks!                                                             



J & L Chocolates

About 10 years ago my mom had this website called J & L chocolates. ( The reason why my mom name it J & L Chocolates was beacause my name starts with a J and my sisters name starts with an L )This website was created because of a buissness my mom had selling chocolate bars with personalized wrappers. My mom would make the chocolate bars and then make the personalize wrappers online,with whatever writings or picures the customer may have wanted. My mom says it was a really fun job and i agree it sounds enjoyable sitinng around making chocolate all day.  However my mom says it was also lots of hard work. 

How To Make The Chocolate Bars

To make these chocolates my mom used to buy bags of chocolate. The peices of chocolate were small and round, they were sold buy the pound. My mom melted the chocolate peices and then mixed it together untill the chocolate was smooth. After that she would pour the melted chocolate into a rectangular  mold she had and made sure the mold was full of chocolate comletly. Then she would frezze the chocolate and when it was done pop it out of the mold and on to a foil sheet. My mom used this foil sheet to wrap the chocolates in and then thatis what she stuk the personalize wrapper to,

It was difficult for my mom to continue making the chocolates all buy her self with no assistance. So she had to stop making them. About 4 yrs ago is when she made that dission. my mom enjoyed doing this very much but the task was to much to take on esspecially because she had another job.

Please comment and tell me what you think about my moms past job. Also, I challenge all of you to make these chocolate bars and tell me how they turned out and you experience making them.

BRAIN FREEZE!!!

Frozen Lemonade Pops!

My frozen leomade pops are a delious low calorie snack that is  great for any time of the year. these frozen lemonade pops are great for birthday parties,sleepovers,BBQ's and any other time! They are so tasty and so easy to make it is unbelivebable! There are onley 3 simple steps to follow and you only need 3 thing to make these pops.

What You Need

All you need to make frozen leonade pops is, a plastic cup, lemonade mix,and a popcicle stick. you can choose any kind of lemonade mix that you would like regular leomonade,rasberry lemonade,even pink lemonade to give it a girly touch!

How To Make Frozen Lemonade Pops  

After you have gathered all your materials, this is what you will have to do. First, you take the plastic cup and fill it up with cold water. Next, you take the lemonade mix and pour it into the cup. Then mix it altogether. The third step is put the cup in to the frezzer. Leave it there for about 20 minutes. Now is when the popcicle stick comes in handy! Take the cup out of the frezzer and put the popcicle stick inside the cup. After that step is completed you put the cup in the frezzer again, for about another hour and a half. Now you are finished and you can eat your frozen lemonade pop! Hope you enjoy it!

Please comment and tell me what u think of these lemonade pops!

Mom's Macoroni

Mom's Mac and Beef

     One of my favorite home cooked meals is mac and beef. You are probably thinking "What the heck is she talking about?!?" Well mac and beef is sort of kind of like mac and cheese except, BETTER!!! Even writing about  it makes my mouth water. The pasta elbows are so tiny, yet, so tasty with every mouthful, however, the tiny chunks of beef are the best part!

                                                           How To Make Mac and Beef

First grab a large pot and fill it up with warm water.( Do not overflow with water but fill it up until it is fairly close to the top) Then put the pot on the stove, add some salt, and wait for the water to boil. After that it is time to add the elbows! ( Not you r elbows! ) Add 1 box (1pound) of pasta elbows into the boiling water.Wait for the pasta tocook to your liking then drain it. After you are done draining the pasta, put that to the side because now, it is time to make some beef!  Grab another large pot and then add 1 pound of ground beef. Take a spoon and make sure there are no big clumps of meat stuck together and then put it onto the stove until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Next take the meat out of the pot and pour it into a large bowl. After that you pour about one fourth one a bottle/can of spaghetti sauce and mix it up together with the meat. Lastly you pour the beef into the warm pasta bowl and mix that altogether. Now its all done! Now you have delicious meal for 4 that i am sure you family will love!  For an extra tasty treat, add some mozzarella cheese on top and warm for a few seconds until the cheese melts.


Please comment and tell me what foods you would like me to write about next! 

Cooking Cupcakes 101

Cooking!   

Cooking is something that can always bring a great,big smile to someones face. I especially like to bake cupcakes! The sweet aroma and better yet the sweet taste is guaranteed to make your mouth water. One of my favorite cupcakes in the whole wide world is a classic carrot cake with rich, creamy, cream cheese frosting.YUM!!! I first tasted carrot cake cupcakes when I was about six years old. The moment i took my first bite I knew i had fallen in love!

  The First Time I Tried To Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    I happily placed the pink cupcake liners in the cupcake tray.  I set the tray aside and went to add the ingredients into my blender. I added eggs,water,flour and all that other good stuff! Then pressed the MIX button on my blender. The blender was shaking like a cold dog,I could see it ratteling back and forth.Finnaly, the blender stopped and I dissattched the top section and walked over to the other side of the kitchen. I tried to pour some of the batter in the cupcake liners, but the top portion of the blender was so heavy from all of the batter inside. "Ok... now lets try again" I said to myself. I held on to the blender as tightly as i could grasp. But... instead of pouring the batter in the liners  I pourd the batter all over myself! It got all over my apron and then I had a puddle of cupcake batter all around my feet.    Obviously my first atempt to make carrot cake cupcakes was a fail. But I tried again and now i love making them! Here is a recipe for you to make carrot cake cupcakes at your house! Have fun and I tell me what your expirience making the cupcakes was like!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

For the frosting:

• 3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.

When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve.

This recipe came from Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe: Ina Garden: Food Network