Barefoot Bloggers: Vegetable Pot Pie

JUST IN TIME!!! I was finally able to make Ina's Vegetable Pot Pie, as selected by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. She has a wonderful blog, complete with gorgeous pictures and yummy recipes; not to mention I'm a big fan on the basis of her being from Hawaii! I did a lot of growing up there and my mom's side of the family is from there. Anyway, I actually waited until today to make the pie since I had company coming over. There's nothing like some good comfort food to indulge in on a beautiful, fall Halloween evening, and I'm sure my Uncle Raymond and Anna would agree!

Okay, so I'm guilty....I snuck chicken into the recipe (like many other BB-ers). I simply couldn't have it any other way. I also did away with the fennel, the small onions, asparagus and butternut squash and substituted the Pernod with some brandy (only because I couldn't find any Pernod), since some people made the recommendation. However, what scared me most about the entire recipe was making the pie crust. I'd honestly never made pie crust by hand before, nor have I ever made a pie without the ready-made pie crust already in the pie pan! Well ladies and gents, I finally broke out of my comfort zone and made it all happen. And let me just say that it was delicious! The crust was perfectly done, and the filling was so hearty and seasoned to perfection!

I used small baking dish, since I wasn't expecting too much company. I had so much filling left over, I was able to create another pie, which I put in the freezer for another evening.

Now, don't laugh! The only cookie cutter I have is of a small dog bone and I wanted to make it look nice. I thought it was appropriate seeing how I had my own dog and Anna's dog over. Let's just say it was tribute to the fur-babies! Not too bad for my very first pie crust, huh?

Ta-da! The finished product. I had so much fun making this and am so glad that it turned out so well. I am definitely going to make this again and try to play around with the fillings.

If my husband were here, he would have enjoyed this. He loves anything and everything with chicken in it. He's checking on this blog from time to time, so here's a bowl of the good stuff for you baby!

Should you want to try this upscale version of your frozen-aisle favorite (that version doesn't even compare!), then scoot on over to Deb's blog for the full recipe. And Deb...Mahalo! For choosing a great recipe! Stay tuned for tomorrow, I'll be posting the recipe for a Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake I made today.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Clara of I Love Food for Thought chose this week's recipe challenge, Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes. Since I didn't get to make my cupcakes until this afternoon, I had a chance to check out other TWD blogs and people have whipped up some of the most creative cupcakes I've ever seen. Most of the cupcakes are appropriately decorated for Halloween. Prudence Pennywise's blog, for example, has some spectacularly decorated cupcakes...you should definitely check hers out! I mean, making words with melted orange chocolate? Too cool!

I loved making these cupcakes. Could it be because of the CHOCOLATE??? Absolutely. I made these just before I got picked up to go to school. And since my carpool mates are such fantastic friends, I shared my chocolatey creations with them. Totally lacking any creativity with cake frosting and decorative tools, I opted to cheat by buying these fall-themed cupcake cups, equipped with these cute pumpkin decorations/toothpick thingys. I thought they added a nice touch to my cupcakes, if I may say so myself!

Many TWD-ers mentioned that this cupcake came out dry. Unfortunately, I had the same result. Nevertheless, the cupcakes were quite tasty....and very chocolatey! I honestly don't think they taste any better than the mix I usually use straight out of the Duncan Hines box, but I like the fact that I can say that I made them from scratch and even more, that my friends told me they tasted really good! So thanks Clara for choosing this recipe! It was tons of fun. Rush on over to her blog for the complete recipe!

As others have mentioned, this Friday is the last day for anyone to become a TWD member, so you'd better sign up, like, NOW!!! Don't let the opportunity pass you by!

Ghirardelli Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookies...My Final Sunday Post!

I've been a baking fool lately...mostly sweet stuff. You know, gotta keep the sweet teeth happy--not to mention I have tons of lady friends who share the same passion for all things CHOCOLATE! It's no wonder we all complain about the weight we can't seem to lose! Whatever, gotta live life to the fullest right? The recipe came from a Ghirardelli ad in this month's Better Homes and Gardens issue and in all honesty, comes real close to Dorie's Chocolate Chunkers recipe. It was perfect because for the past week or so, all Ghiradelli baking chocolates have been on sale at Wal-Mart for $2.00 a bag. I stocked up--I mean STOCKED UP--on bags and bags of these, from bittersweet, to white, to milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips. You name it, I got it! Maybe you can rush on over to your local Wal-Mart to see if you can snag some.

Anyway, the recipe yielded about two dozen moist, chocolately, nutty cookies. I'll be using this recipe to send a couple dozen to my soldier for this month's round of Operation Baking Gals! And get your tall glass of milk ready...they're pretty darn rich!

Ghirardelli Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookies

(from November 2008 issue of Better Homes and Gardens)

1 bag (11.5 oz) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 bag (12 oz) Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 cup (4 oz) chopped walnuts

1. In double boiler over hot water, melt the bittersweet chocolate chips and butter. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick; stir in chocolate mixture. In small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder; stir into chocolate mixture. Gently mix in semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts.
2. Using a sheet of plastic wrap, form dough into two logs, each 2 inches in diameter and about 8 inches long. As dough will be very soft, use plastic wrap to hold dough in log shape. Wrap tightly. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degreees. Unwrap dough; with sharp knife, cut into 3/4-inch slices. Place slices 1 1/2 inces apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until shiny crust forms on top but interior is still soft.
4. Cool on baking sheet.

Yields 2 dozen cookies.

P.S. I found that 375 was too hot. I ended up with some slightly burnt cookies on the bottoms. The next batch, I lowered the temperature to 350 and they came out much better.

Halloween Fun!

Yesterday, I went to a neighborhood Halloween party with Anna. The party was hosted by one of her friends. You know me lately...with the hubby gone, I'm constantly looking for stuff to do to keep me occupied and this was exactly what I needed. It was fun and there were tons of goodies, which I was able to capture on film. My apologies...there are only pictures. I really didn't want to have to bother the hostess for recipes. On the other hand, these goodies don't look like they'd be too hard for any of you to whip up on your own. I was able to devour my very on caramel apple--one of my Halloween faves, if not the fave.

If you're wondering what the heck I'm wearing...I was one of those 50's (or 60's?) sock hop chicks--complete with my husband's high school letterman jacket/sweater thingy. I couldn't find one of those small neck scarves, so I had to settle for one I had in my closet. Whatever, it's not like I was out to win first prize or anything. Now, pictures of the good stuff:

Carmel Apples....divine!

Look at these cute witch hats! Gotta love those Keebler chocolate cookies!

Cute little lady bugs made out of refrigerated crescent rolls and mini-sausages!

i think these are snakes. what a cute way to do up some hotdogs!

aww...a little spidey cake. I'm guessing a Wal-Mart Specialty. it was actually very moist and tasty!

i totally heart rice crispies treats...in any shape or form!

And there you have it! If you're hosting a Halloween party this weekend, I hope these made for some really inexpensive and easy ideas for you to WOW your guests with! Happy Halloween everybody!

Another Award!

You guys, I am so honored! Sarah and Alex of brokenyolks nominated me for the Premio Arte Pico award, my second award for this blog. I didn't even know they'd taken notice of my blog and I'm so touched at their generosity.

This award was created in Uruguay by a fellow blogger who makes dolls exclusively from recycled materials. Her blog can be reached by clicking here. The rules for this award include the following:

1. Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2. Advertise name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone
3. Each award-winner, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the link of “Arte y pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Share these rules.

As such, I am first and foremost passing this award to Melissa Devoe of Love at First Bite. I feel that she is more worthy than I of the award because, truth be told, I use her recipes all the time. If I wasn't a member of Tuesdays with Dorie (which actually joined because of her), Barefoot Bloggers, or Operation Baking Gals I would only have her borrowed recipes on my blog! So Melissa, thanks so much for everything. There's no one more deserving...and check out her blog. She's got some great stuff!

And I will pass the award to these remaining, wonderful bloggers (and this is in no particular order)! These are the ones I have kept up with the most in my short time as a blogger. Actually, one of them I just found, but her blog is just awesome...and she's my Round 4 host for Operation Baking Gals! Actually, ALL of these blogs are fantabulous! These ladies are so creative and fun, I wish I had even an ounce of that talent!

1. The Dogs Eat the Crumbs
2. Madam Chow's Kitchen
3. Cookies with Boys
4. Angry Asian Creations

Now go on and spread the love ladies! Again, thanks to Sarah and Alex for totally making my weekend!

Pasta a la Vodka Casserole

I didn't have a chance to make this week's Barefoot Bloggers recipe, but earlier this week my friend Anna and I whipped up some Pasta a la Vodka Casserole. The recipe was borrowed again, from my friend Melissa's blog, Love at First Bite , and is really named Penne a la Vodka Casserole. However, we didn't have any penne on hand, and just used a mixture of different kinds of pasta, hence the Pasta a la Vodka Casserole. We were both so excited about making this recipe. She's Italian and I love, love, LOVE Italian food! Plus, Anna had taken a peek at Melissa's blog through mine and called to tell me that she wanted to make it. So we did, and let me tell you, it is wonderful! Can't you tell? Even Anna's dog, Howard, was itching for a taste. Isn't he cute?

Although preparing the dish took a long time, it was all worth it. Everything worked out really well. I had about half the ingredients and Anna had the rest, including the main ingredient--the vodka! The recipe calls for both hot and sweet Italian sausage, but I was only able to find sweet Italian turkey sausage, as seen below. I tend to prefer sweet over spicy anyway.

Here, we sauted the sausage and about 4 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions together. We added about two cloves of garlic to this mixture and the aroma was just so invigorating!

Here, we later added whole tomatoes and heavy cream and the resulting sauce was mixed with our pasta. We had enough of the pasta mixture to fill the entire baking dish and then some. So we were each able to help ourselves to a serving. The pasta mixture could very well be served without baking it. I actually preferred the unbaked pasta to the baked version, but you find out which version works for you!

The baked pasta came out looking like this....cheese all bubbly and just downright yummy! Again, the dish took a while to prepare--about 40 minutes to make the sauce and then the same amount of time to bake. But you will find that it was time well spent! Here is the recipe below, which Melissa adapted from Emeril. And thanks again Melissa for another great recipe!

Penne A La Vodka Casserole

(recipe adapted from Emeril)

4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices

1 lb. hot Italian sausage, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices

4 cups thinly sliced onions

1 and 3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1/2 cup vodka

Two 16-oz. cans whole tomatoes, crushed in their juices

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 pound penne pasta

15 oz. ricotta cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

1 and 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over high heat. Add the sausages and cook, stirring, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, 3/4 tsp. salt, and the black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are just soft, about 4 minutes. Add the basil and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the vodka and tomatoes, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes. Add the garlic powder and heavy cream, stir to mix, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. To cook the pasta, combine 4 quarts water, the olive oil, and the remaining tsp. salt in a large pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, add the pasta, and cook until al dente, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain well. Combine half of the ricotta cheese and half of the Parmesan-Reggiano with the remining 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add the pasta and toss to coat evenly. Add the sausage mixture and mix well. Add the remaining ricotta cheese and the remaining Parmesan-Reggiano and mix well.
3. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Bake until bubbly and golden, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Serve with warm crusty bread.

Delicious! Just you wait and see!

Barefoot Bloggers--need to postpone!

Hey all! I'm going to be postponing this week's BB recipe--vegetable pot pie--to another day; most likely this weekend. I wasn't able to get all the ingredients in time, but I'm definitely looking forward to doing it! Stay tuned, it'll be on here before the 31st!