Lovin' the South

I haven't blogged in about a month. Work has been super stressful and I have no motivation to write when I am stressed out. Without going into details (this blog is not about my work life) March, was the most difficult month ever. Every day, I wanted to hide away in a blanket fort and color rather than be a responsible adult and go to work. Fortunately the hardest part is over, and now it is time to pick myself up and keep marching on! The one highlight in March, however, was my business trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. I have never been on a business trip before, it was really fun! I felt so important! Right before I flew out there, my boss said, "Don't let them recruit you, now, we have lost a few employees to that." A comment made mostly in jest and I didn't take it too seriously but that did have me thinking while I was out there if I would ever actually consider relocating to North Carolina.

Let me tell you, there are a lot of plusses to living in the south! For one thing everything is so cheap compared to San Diego! For the same amount I pay for my apartment, I could live in a house twice the size. That is pretty much true for anywhere else in the U.S. which is depressing to think about so I just don't. Also, and I know this sounds mean, but the majority of people in the south are really fat. The obesity epidemic is country-wide for sure, but those southern states with their greasy food definitely have big people. I have never been a petite girl, but over there I felt so tiny! I am a virtual size two by comparison, talk about good for the ego. And finally, I'll just say it, I have a bit of a weakness for men of the African-American persuasion. I don't meet many of them where I live, but in Charlotte, they are everywhere! So... in one move, I could be rich, thin, and surrounded by beautiful men!  Talk about a win-win! I am on the wrong side of the country!

But then, I came home, stepped out of the airport, smelled that salty, breezy, air; saw my beloved palm trees lining the streets, drove home along the coast looking out at the gorgeous ocean, and thought... "nah, I live in paradise! It would take a lot more than that to get me to leave!" So, long story short, North Carolina was pretty awesome but how can you not love San Diego?!?

One thing that the south does well is biscuits! I have hosted Easter brunch at my house for four years and have tried several different biscuit recipes and just haven't been completely happy with any of them. I just can't get them to rise very tall and get all flaky and buttery. When I was in Charlotte, I happened into Bojangles which is like a KFC type of place in the south. I had the most amazing biscuits ever! I googled copycat recipes and they all called for shortening. To me, using shortening would mean I would lose that delicious buttery taste but I was willing to give it a try. I ended up brushing melted butter over the top a few minutes before they were done baking and sure enough they tasted very buttery. The shortening helped them puff up and I have to say... best biscuits ever! These are so good!

Here is the recipe:

Bojangles Copy Cat Biscuit Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. powdered sugar

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Melted butter (about 1/4 cup)

Directions:

Stir together the flour, baking powder and powdered sugar.

Cut in the shortening until pieces are about the size of grains of rice. Stir in the buttermilk.

Knead a few times; roll out on a floured board or counter top to 1- inch thickness.

Be careful not to work dough too much or add too much flour, or you’ll have dry biscuits. Cut with a round biscuit cutter. Makes 8 biscuits.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 12 minutes in a preheated 450°F oven. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter and bake about 3 more minutes.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes? Challenge Accepted!

Tomorrow is my friend, Sasha's, birthday and she requested Maple Bacon Cupcakes that she saw on Pinterest. Pinterest is great for broadening horizons, I love a fun new recipe and this was it! Normally when I look at a new recipe I read all of the reviews to see what works and what doesn't, then I edit as needed. This time though, my parents were in town and I didn't have much time so I just made the recipe as is. Not a good idea, those reviews help a TON! The cupcake batter turned out as thick as cookie dough so I had to scoop it into the cups rather than pour it. The flavor was fine but they were very dense and heavy, not light like a cupcake should be. Many of the reviewers said to add a cup of boiling water to the batter which makes sense as I do that with a few other cake recipes so I will do that next time I make them. I edited the recipe to include that.

Other than that, the cupcakes were good! The bacon wasn't weird at all, it didn't really taste bacon-y, you just got a bite with a bit of saltiness every once in a while which was yummy. Overall, I would say this is a keeper. Bacon cupcakes are interesting to say the least and maple and bacon? Essentially this is just breakfast with frosting on top! WIN! 

Maple and Bacon Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 3.9-oz. box instant vanilla pudding mix

1 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup half-and-half, at room temperature

1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon (5 strips)

1 cup boing water

Frosting:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, at room temperature

2 Tbs. butter, at room temperature

6 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 strips bacon, cooked and chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place paper liners in a muffin tin. Combine the flours, pudding mix, baking powder, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugars with a mixer on low speed until combined, 6 to 8 minutes. Gradually mix in the vanilla and egg whites. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; continue mixing until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the maple syrup and half-and-half, mixing after each addition and ending with flour. Mix until the ingredients are just combined; do not over mix. Stir in the cup of boiling water. Stir in the bacon.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about three-quarters of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting:

Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon; beat until combined. Spread on the cooled cupcakes; top with chopped bacon, if desired.

Valentine Desserts

Last week was Valentines Day and it is the perfect opportunity to make cute deserts. I made these chocolate cream-filled cupcakes for my Tuesday night Community Group. Chocolate... cream... you can’t go wrong! They are definitely a crowd pleaser. For my Wednesday night Community Group I made Red Velvet Cake balls, aren’t they perfectly Valentine-y? So cute! 

The next day, my friend, Jaimee, took a few to work and one of her co-workers liked them so much she asked to hire me to make them for her upcoming baby shower.  So I will be making 30 of these little bites of awesomeness for that! I love getting hired. :)

Here is the recipe:

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Cake:

2 cups sugar

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 oz. red food coloring

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vinegar

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick butter, softened

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 bag white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into two 8" round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool.

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.  Mix thoroughly with cream cheese frosting. Roll mixture into balls and lay on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Insert a toothpick into each cake ball and freeze.Melt the white chocolate and dip the cake balls. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.

Another thing I made last week was vanilla scones. We had them for one of our Downton Abbey movie nights. Scones seem kind of British sure, why not? These ones are very similar to Starbucks version, so if you like those, these will be right up your ally!

Vanilla Bean Scones

4 cups flour

1/2 cup vanilla sugar

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

10 Tbs. unsalted butter, cold, cut into small chunks

2 eggs

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-4 Tbs. milk

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

Scones:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Combine the flour, sugar, zest, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like crumbs. This usually takes about five minutes or so—don’t rush it! In a large bowl combine the cream, vanilla, and eggs. Beat to combine thoroughly. Dump the flour mixture into the bowl and stir, just until the flour is incorporated. Stirring too much will result in tough scones.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and kneed the dough gently four or five times then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into four pie shaped wedges. Place the scones on the baking stone or a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the racks midway through baking. The scones should be light brown on top. Let the scones cool on the sheets for 30 minutes, then paint with the glaze. A silicone basting brush is ideal for this job.

Glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. You can adjust the consistency of the glaze to your liking. A thinner glaze will give just a shimmer of sugar to the outside.

Good ole' fashioned barn raising!

I have a great back yard space (for an apartment). It is about 12x14 feet and aside from the time that I had the roommate the turned it into a beer brewery, it has been completely under-utilized space. That, combined with the fact that several times a year I host events at my house with 20+ people, I decided that the back yard needed to be set up properly so we could use the space. So, I bought a gazebo and some patio furniture a few weeks ago but when it showed up in 8 huge boxes, I realized that there was no way I could put this together by myself. Since I haven't started my "rent-a-man" company yet. (my million dollar idea that I thought of way back then) I decided I needed to have a party - a "build Tamara's back yard party". I have to say, that was one of my best ideas yet!

I invited both of my community groups to come over after church to help me build everything. About 15 people came over and the back yard was done in about 3 hours. Other than making food for everyone, I didn't have to do anything, it was brilliant! This afternoon really was community in action. I am so thankful for such great friends! And here they are working hard while I "supervised".

And here is the finished product, well, semi-finished. I now have to buy a light to hang from the ceiling of the gazebo and some decore, I am thinking some candles and succulents and I am not sure what else but I am sure I will be inspired when I go to Pier One and World Market! When I sat on the couch when we were all done I noticed that there is a nice sized wall area where I could hang a sheet and use for an outdoor movie. Ooooh... the possibilities!

And here is the finished product.

The day time view:

And the night time view:

Since no entry is complete without a recipe, I will post the "Lemonies" that I made for dessert today. You have probably seen them on Pinterest, they are everywhere. They are the texture of a brownie but made with lemon. They are not quite as rich as traditional lemon bars, I really like them. They are kind of a refreshing dessert. 

Lemonies

Bars:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick butter, softened

2 eggs

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1Tbs.)

zest from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tsp.)

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs. lemon juice

Directions:

Bars:

Grease and flour an 8x8 pan. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the softened butter. In another bowl whisk the eggs with the lemon juice and zest. Add to the larger bowl and mix well.

Pour into prepared 8x8 brownie pan. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes. You can double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan for 30 minutes.

Remove and let cool, then glaze.

Glaze:

Stir together and pour onto cooled bars.