Lemon Fluff

I have been terrible about posting! All of August went by without a peep and now September is almost over too. This doesn't mean I haven't been baking, I just haven't gotten it together enough to transfer the pictures from my camera to the computer and do a write up. I promise to try to do better.

Back when I reviewed Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards, I intended to post something pie-related. See in Sunset Bridge, there's a character with her own pie shop. I don't make very many pies though, so I made Lemon Fluff instead. It's a simple, no-bake lemony dessert which I wasn't very impressed with (although a few coworkers said they liked it). First off, the recipe (which I found in one of my mom's magazines) called for a 9x13 pan. As I started pressing the graham cracker crust into the pan, I started thinking the crust would be too thin and transferred it to an 8x8 pan instead. I'm glad I did. And although it had great lemon flavor, I didn't care for the texture that came from the cream cheese mixed with evaporated milk. Not my most successful kitchen venture...maybe that's why it took so long to make it online.

White Cheddar Mac and Cheese

One of the minor characters in The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross is always in the kitchen coming up with something great to share with Clementine. I'm not nearly as creative as Eli nor do I have all the space and ingredients afforded by Clementine's wealthy parents, which is why a cookbook like In the Small Kitchen by Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine is pretty perfect for me. The authors have created these recipes precisely for people with small apartment kitchens. The recipes don't call for any unusual equipment (who has room to store all of that?) and many are for smaller serving sizes, which is great because I hate making a great dish that I quickly grow tired of because I'm stuck eating it all week long. I'll admit that not all of the recipes in this cookbook appeal to me, but one that I was quite pleased with was the White Cheddar Mac and Cheese. It takes a bit of effort and dirties a few pots and pans, but the end result was so yummy. Two recommendations: Stir the mac and cheese about halfway through the baking time and always use good cheese like Tillamook.

Dijon Chicken Salad

Picnics and the 4th of July just seem to go together. So here's my recipe for Dijon Chicken Salad, which makes an excellent picnic sandwich.

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup Dijonnaise
2 oz. shaved Parmesan

Mix it all together. Serve warm on sourdough.

S'mores Brownies

These S'mores Brownies are incredibly easy and absolutely delicious. I brought them to work for a coworker's goodbye and everyone raved about them. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but my mom passed it along to me.

All you need is a 13x9 brownie mix and the ingredients called for on the box plus graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate chips (though I substituted butterscotch this time around). After greasing the pan, line it with graham crackers; pour the brownie batter over top. Bake according to box, but when five minutes remains add the marshmallows and chips to the top. Bake the remaining five minutes.

Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes

I'm a bit behind in posting this one, but for Easter I made a modified version of the Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes from the cookbook, Cupcakes: From the Cake Mix Doctor. I love cake mix recipes and this cookbook provides some of my favorites. And to tie this into a book I reviewed, let's go for Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee. In that book, Emily bakes tons of cupcakes and brings them into work (which is exactly what I did with these) as part of her grieving process regarding the loss of her husband. Emily's boss doesn't appreciate the baked goods, but fortunately for me, my coworkers love the cupcakes.

Here's how I modified the recipe for Easter: I used Dove Dark Chocolate eggs instead of Hershey's Kisses and Easter-colored M&M's instead of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I also used a dark chocolate buttercream for the frosting. The end result was delicious. Check out another modification (with plenty of pictures) at Sweet & Saucy.

Shortbread

The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry includes a number of recipes that Ginny makes throughout the novel. I decided to try her grandmother’s shortbread recipe. It’s very simple with just 2 cups of flour, 2 sticks of butter, and ½ cup of sugar mixed together and then baked at 350 degrees. My first batch was tragically burnt (I checked halfway and they looked ok, but the final minutes did them in), so I reduced the baking time to 16 minutes for the second batch and was quite pleased. Shortbread is a little plain, but still delicious.

Raspberry Angel Food Cake

When she isn't romancing a former flame, Tara from The Sweetest Thing is baking up a storm (she's going to be taking care of food for the inn she owns with her sisters). The ARC of the second book in the Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis includes a casserole recipe, but I don't like casseroles so I'm not about to make one. Instead, I'll share this incredibly simple and oh so yummy Raspberry Angel Food Cake.

The original recipe came from one of my mom's magazines, but I made one small change: raspberry extract. All you need to make this is a box of angel food mix (and anything the mix calls for), a small box of raspberry Jello, and vanilla and raspberry extracts. Just mix up the angel food according to the box, then add a teaspoon a piece of the extracts. Pour about half the batter into the angel food pan; add Jello powder to the remaining batter, then swirl it into the pan. Bake according to the box. Even if you've never baked before, you can make this.