Blueberry bread with lemon glaze

It's a shame.

I had some really great pictures for this post that I took with my new iPhone 4S, but they seem to be lost in cyberspace. Not sure where they went after I plugged my phone in to iTunes. All I know is they're not on my phone and not on my computer. Can any of you techies help a gal out?

This recipe is too good not to post, though, so I'll post anyway without pics. My sweetie, Teddy, lives in Chicago, so I like to bake him sweet treats when I see him. Last weekend we met halfway in the Wisconsin Dells, so I baked him some blueberry bread and added a little twist by adding lemon zest and topping with lemon glaze. A perfect summery mix of flavors.

Blueberry bread with lemon glaze

1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C canola oil
1 egg
3/4 C skim milk
1/4 C half & half
1 T lemon juice
1 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 1/2 C fresh blueberries

Zest from one lemon

For the glaze:

2 C powdered sugar
2 T whole milk
2 T melted butter
1 t lemon extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray two loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

First prepare your buttermilk.  In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, combine skim milk, half & half, and lemon juice.  Stir and let stand for at least five minutes.

In a large bowl combine brown sugar, oil, and egg. Mix until well-combined and smooth.  Stir in your vanilla and buttermilk mixture.  Next, add your dry ingredients to the wet mixture - flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until well-combined and smooth.

Fold your blueberries and lemon zest in to the batter.

Pour half of the batter in to one of the loaf pans and the rest in to the other loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

For the glaze, mix all ingredients until smooth.  Add milk as needed so that the glaze will drizzle evenly on to the bread.  Once the bread is completely cool, drizzle on a dollop of glaze.  Let glaze harden.

No pics, but I insist, it's very delicious!

Cheers,

KCK

Birthday Cake! (Yellow with Chocolate Frosting)

This blog post is long overdue. My stepmom's birthday was February 4, over two months ago now, and as a special birthday treat I went over to their house and prepared a good home-cooked meal.

What was on the menu?

• Fennel-rubbed pork tenderloin (I've never worked with fennel before, and it was a tad intimidating, but it turned out DELICIOUS. Ever since I first had the fennel fries at Bulldog Northeast I've been completely obsessed)
• Garlic mashed potatoes (skin on)
• Steamed green beans with toasted almonds, butter, and lemon juice

And the VERY BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE! Yellow cake from scratch with chocolate buttercream frosting.



I've attempted to white/yellow cakes from scratch several times before without much satisfaction. They've never been bad, but they've never been keepers, either.

This recipe is a keeper, no doubt.

Very Best Birthday Cake, from Smitten Kitchen


4 C + 2 T cake flour
2 t baking powder
1-1/2 t baking soda
1 t table salt
2 sticks butter, softened
2 C sugar
2 t vanilla extract
4 eggs, at room temp.
2 C buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350, and spray 2 round pans - 9 inches in diameter - with non-stick cooking spray.

Sift together your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, the beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

At low speed,  beat in buttermilk until just combined. It's okay if the batter looks a bit curdled.

Add your dry mixture in three additions, mixing after each addition until just combined.

Pour batter evenly in to both prepared pans. Holding the pans a few inches above the counter, drop each pan individually a few times in order to remove air bubbles that may be hangin' out in the batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pans for a bit, then remove the cakes from the pans and allow to cool completely.  If your cake is even a little warm, the frosting will melt all over, and you'll have one BIG mess on your hands (and an ugly cake).

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, from Nestle Toll House

3 C powdered sugar

2/3 C cocoa

1 stick butter

6 T milk

1 t vanilla

Beat 1 C powedered sugar, cocoa, butter, 2 T milk, and vanilla. Gradually beat in remaining milk and sugar until creamy.

To frost: 

Layer cakes are a bit tricky to frost, and it really does take some practice. Not that I should be the one to talk, because I'm far from a pro cake-froster.  Flip one of your cakes upside down on the plate on which you'd like to serve the cake. Start by frosting the flat surface facing up (which is the bottom of the cake). Put a big ol' dollop on the top and spread evenly with a knife.

Place your other cake upside down on top of the bottom cake. Put another big ol' dollop on the top and spread. Then, using hefty scoops of frosting, frost the sides.

Beautious.

KCK

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs

I'm back! After MONTHS. No good, I tell you. I recently joined Pinterest and have been posting all my sweet treats on my "Red Bike Bakery" board. Make sure to check it out!

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Every one of her recipes is guaranteed deliciousness, so these are bound to be good. They're baking in the oven as I write (and watch Julie and Julia). The best part of whipping up the batter is the spicy scent of nutmeg. Mmmm. Reminds me of eggnog.

Nothing like a sweet treat in the morning to go along with a much-needed latte.

French Breakfast Puffs, from The Pioneer Woman


For the puffs:
3 C all-purpose flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 C sugar
2/3 C shortening
2 eggs
1 C milk

For the coating:
2 sticks butter
1-1/2 C sugar
3 t ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease 12 muffin cups.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir the first four ingredients thoroughly and set aside.



In another large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and beat again. In three separate additions, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk, beating well after each addition.



Add a large dollop of batter to your muffin cups.



Bake 20-25 minutes until the muffins are a light golden brown.



Once cooled slightly, remove the muffins from the pan and set aside.

Now the best part: a butter and cinnamon sugar glaze. Yuuummmm.

Melt the butter in a bowl or glass pan.  In a separate bowl mix the cinnamon and sugar.



Dip your muffins first in to the melted butter, then the cinnamon sugar. Voila, you have an indulgent breakfast sweet.

And how do they taste? I think scrumptious is the word. Absolutely fantastic. Tastes like a cinnamon sugar cake donut with a hint of nutmeg.



Cheers!



KCK

Enter to win!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  In fact, it is exactly six days, two hours, and 28 minutes away (at least it was when I was writing this).  Need that top-shelf pie pan to make that perfect pumpkin pie sure to impress the whole family?  With the holidays just around the corner maybe you're more interested in buying your mother, father, spouse, brother, sister, etc. that kitchen accessory that will end all kitchen accessories.  Or if you're me, you'd treat yourself to a little luxury.

Let's cut to the chase.  I am GIVING AWAY a $25 gift card to the Uptown's fabulous Kitchen Window as well as this fashionable, never-been-used apron (though I did buy it quite a few months ago).  I have far too many aprons.

Please excuse my less than quality photo!

How do you "enter to win"?

Become a follower OF my blog NOW, and your name is in!  It's that simple.

Cheers!



KCK

A fabulous autumnal meal

Last night my good friend David so graciously hosted a few of us gals for a fantastic seasonal feast.  He is a phenomenal cook - I could use a few lessons from him.  I might also add that he created such a cozy, relaxed setting with candles, music, and dim lighting; not to mention a fabulous and creative table setting for four.

The handsome chef himself:

Guest post by Mr. David Silha Reimann

After having been invited to the establishments of others for food tasting, I needed to return the favor for all of my experiences.  I thought about the changing seasons and the need to enjoy a harvest of its goodness through a hearty meal. 

Three ladies (Emily B., Kath K., Sarah T.) were brought to mind when thinking about conjuring up the meal. It would be created to warm the limbs and soul before a freeze sets in for the number of months I do not care to think about. 

I steamed two Acorn Squash in the oven a few hours before the guests arrived. 

I fought through the tough skin of the squash with a knife to divide them into halves. I filled a baking sheet with ½ inch of water and set the squash face down for their steaming. Oven= 350 for 45 minutes. 

Within in the month of October, I mastered a warm recipe of sautéed Kale leaf: garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.  The leaves of the long and broad Kale plant give a feeling as though it stores (they do) essential fiber and vitamins.  The first crunches of the leaves inside your mouth awaken your belly as if it were to say, “okay, I’m getting ready for something down here that will clean me up.”

1 head of Kale 

4 Tbps of olive oil

4-5 cloves of garlic

½ Lemon

• Trim the large stem from the center of the pre-rinsed leaves- if you don’t, while you eat your finished product, you will find yourself chomping away on something that is tough and unnecessary. 
• Cut the leaf into large squares (don’t make it any more difficult than it sounds – just cut). 
• Turn the burner onto high/med-high for 3 minutes, so it gets the heat up pretty high on the pot (with lid).
• Add oil, followed be the garlic after 30 seconds. Let the garlic sizzle/fizzle for no more than 1 minute or else it will burn and be bitter.
• Add chopped Kale leaves. It is like spinach; it cooks down a lot. You may think that you have too much before, but afterwards, you may be surprised.
• Turn the heat down to medium – cover with lid. Wait 2 minutes.
• Move the Kale around so the ones on top go to the bottom surface of the pan. Repeat twice. Adjust the heat up and down (if you have an electric burner) so you can hear/see steam rising; if you have a gas burner, I’m jealous. 
• When the leaves have wilted, raise the heat so when you add ¼ of water it really rises with steam; cover it.
• Turn it to low once the water has evaporated from below the leaves.

The longer you cook, the better the dish.

The meat of the meal was Pork Tenderloin. I bought two that had been pre-marinated: one) lemon garlic; two) honey mustard. 

I pre-heated the oven to 500 and turned it down to 400 when I was ready to throw the ‘loins in for 45 minutes. As my dad taught me over the years, “tent” (with Tinfoil) any meat for at least 5 minutes after it has left the heat source. This allows the meat to soak up/hold its moisture.

I re-heated the room temp. squash in the oven 5 minutes before we sat down to dinner. I put ½ Tbsp of butter, and a pinch of brown sugar into each half so they would melt and mix in with one another.

Squeeze the lemon over the Kale right before you passing.

I didn’t lie to the guests when it came down to dessert. On my way home from Rainbow (where I bought everything leading up to this), I stopped in at Lunds and walked around three serving tables of pre-baked desserts for probably five minutes.  Right before I pulled the trigger on a purchase of $5.99 sugar cookies (with orange and brown M&Ms), my eyes met a container holding Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip cookies. I was sold just by how good they looked, so, I bought them.  

They were fantastically paired with a cup of Good Earth – Spice Tea (K.K. and I were the only two who wanted to cap the night off with something extra warm).  

The night was full of conversation, laughter and cheer as the four of us were surrounded by music, the light of candles, and conversation. 

DSR

Just a Minneapolis gal in Paris

Last week I was so fortunate to travel to Paris with my mom and sister Blair.  My sis Karly is studying there this semester, so we went for a little visit.

Paris is unbelievable.  Beautiful.  Breath-taking.  Chic.  Romantic.  Historic.  It was so surreal to be there.  I mean, you hear about it, read about it, watch movies about it, see paintings and photos of it; but to actually be there is indescribable.

And the cuisine?  Fabulous.  Here are a few of my food experiences!

A French hot dog.  Two hot dogs wrapped in a fresh baguette and dijon mustard, topped with crispy cheese.  The hot dog itself was pretty gnarly.  At least the after-taste wasn't so good.  Stick an American hot dog in there and it'd be award-winning.

1664 beer.  If you know me well you know I love me my beer.  Two pints for two Euros?  Now that's what I call a bargain!

One simply cannot travel to Paris without trying a crepe.  Banana and nutella is my fave.  So so so yummy.  Every time I've had a crepe in Europe I've thought to myself, I am going to make crepes when I get home.  Haven't done it yet, but one of these days.  Perhaps over the holidays this year...

Blair had a little mishap and got it all over her face.  

The last night we were there we went to a French brew pub.  Who know they had brew pubs in Paris, of all places?!!  The space was super cool - multi-level with exposed brick, complete with a lounge space.  Very sexy.  Well, as sexy as a brew pub can get. 

We (Mom, Karly, her beau Kyle, and I) shared a pitcher of Ginger Twist beer - an amber beer with hints of ginger, lemon, and lime.  Mmmmm.

So so so much fun.

xoxo,

KCK

Homemade applesauce

'Tis the season for apples.

One reason I am particularly fond of the fall is the idea of spending a sunny, crisp Saturday afternoon at the apple orchard.  The irony, though, is that I haven't actually been to an apple orchard to pick apples since I was a wee young lass.

Toward the end of the summer I though to myself, This is the year I will finally make it to the apple orchard.  And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, it's the middle of October.  Where is the time going?!

Instead, I decided that a bag of freshly picked apples from my mom would have to suffice for the time being so that I could make one of my favorite fall recipes - applesauce.

Nothing like a bowl of warm, homemade applesauce to accompany an autumnal meal by the fire on a crisp, blustery evening indoors.  Meatloaf?  Mashed potatoes?  Squash, anyone?

Homemade Applesauce

8 tart apples, Honeycrisp is always a good option
1 C water
1 C sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg


First, peel all of your apples, get rid of the cores, and cut them in to quarters.  Bring the water and apples to a boil, stirring the apples occasionally to ensure that all apples are softening.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, again stirring occasionally and breaking the apples when they become tender.  I prefer mine to be the consistency of chunky applesauce, but you can also continue stirring / breaking the apples until completely smooth.  

Stir in remaining ingredients, heat to boiling, boil and stir 1 minute.  Super easy, just a bit time consuming.

You'll never eat Mott's again.

KCK