Oreo's

Yes, I realize I've been posting a lot of sweets lately, but I really couldn't resist making these for my boys.  They were a lot easier than I thought and will be something I'll definitely make again.  They're from Smitten Kitchen.

Oreo's fall in the category with Doritos and Corn Nuts and cream soda for me.  I have a hard time resisting any of these tasty treats.  This homemade version wasn't quite the same as the store bought ones, of course, but they were still fantastic and hit the spot. 

Besides that, they were super fun to make.  Next time, maybe I'll do double stuffed.

Homemade Oreos

From Smitten Kitchen.com

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

Chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

2.In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

3.Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

4.To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

5.To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.


Browned Butter Whipped Cream Frosting

They say 'necessity is the mother of invention.'  How else would we have these amazing inventions?

Sometimes you start making a dulce de leche cake for your dear friends 30th birthday party and you end up with something, well...not a dulce de leche cake.  Dulce de leche is similar to caramel and one way to make it is made by reducing sweetened milk over heat for a long period of time.  I obviously did something wrong because I ended up with a glob of rock hard caramel that had to be heated up over steam just to loosen it from the bowl.  There was no way this glob was going to whip in with cream to make a frosting.  I couldn't even get my big kitchen knife through it let alone my Kitchen Aid blade.  What a mess!

Perhaps one day, I'll attempt dulce de leche again.  Unfortunately, it was 5:00 on the day of the party and I didn't have time to try again.  Before I panicked, I called my handy dandy mother.  We brainstormed and after realizing my pantry was sadly stocked, decided my only option other than a trip to the store was to brown some butter, add some flavors and whip it in to cream.  We were both hopeful when I hung up the phone.

Hallelujah it worked! Thank God for mothers!  This frosting is light and fresh but has the rich flavors of cinnamon and browned butter that are still quite decadent.  I'm not a huge fan of regular frosting, so whipped cream frostings are right up my alley. 

What they say about inventions must be true.  You see, I needed a tasty solution and we (by 'we' I mean my mom) invented a new frosting.  Perhaps it's already been invented, but I've never heard of it anyways. 

Browned Butter Whipped Cream Frosting

1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 inch vanilla bean

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 inch vanilla bean
3 cups whipped cream

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and continue to cook until butter turns a light golden brown.  Remove from heat and add the cinnamon and vanilla extract.  Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the soft, blackish insides; add this to the butter.  Stir the butter mixture and allow it to cool to room temperature. 

Meanwhile, whip the cream in a chilled mixer bowl with chilled beaters.  Place whipped cream into a separate bowl and wash out your mixer bowl.  Add the butter mixture to the mixer bowl and slowly beat in the powdered sugar and milk until well combined.

Gently fold the butter mixture into the whipped cream.

This amount frosted and filled a 3 layer 9 inch cake with plenty left over.

Buttered Rosemary Rolls

All I have to say about these is that you should make them right now.  Drop everything and get busy!  My neighbor's son never really spoke to me until I made a batch of these for them.  If I recall correctly, he leaned over the fence and hollered 'These are like heaven on a plate!' 

Who am I to argue with Gus? 

This batch was made last night for these two lovely ladies.  Last year, I told my sister-in-law I would make these and bring them over.  I was in big trouble when I showed up with store bought rolls.  Note to all you ladies out there...don't make your husband's sister mad.  She loves me again now.  Whew!

Buttered Rosemary Rolls
Adapted from Pioneer Woman

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons dry milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in your bread maker and choose the dough setting.  At first, occasionally scrape the sides of your machine pan to make sure all the flour and whatnot gets incorporated.   If you don't have a bread maker, you can use a hand made dough recipe or frozen dough from the freezer section.

Grease a 9 x 13 pan and form 12 rolls from the dough.  This part is hard to explain, but kind of stretch the dough and fold the sides under itself a couple times.  This creates a smooth, tight top to the roll. 

Cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled. 

Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and brush over the tops of the rolls.  Lightly sprinkle with finely chopped rosemary as well as some coarse salt. 

Bake at 400 degrees F until the tops are browned and they sound hollow when you gently knock on them with your knuckle.  Brush on more butter and serve.  They're much better if served warm. 

You might want to eat a light lunch the day you make these.  You're going to want two of them, trust me.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Well, it's done!  The face lift to our main level has been completed.  I cannot fully express my relief that I no longer have to put on painting clothes, hand my children their processed food on paper plates and say 'find a spot that looks clean-ish and eat,' or have an air compressor in my living room. 

It took three weeks to complete, but it was well worth it.  It's amazing what some joint compound, paint, additional trim and a new floor will do for a place.  We now have grey walls instead of beige and a cool new robin's egg blue bathroom; not to mention the gorgeous new floor.  I especially like the little orange accessory on the couch.

The tools have been put away, the sawdust cleaned up and the paint finally picked out from under my nails.  The only thing that still remains is the grey paint stuck in the fur of our black dog, Roman.  I'm looking forward to not having paint brushes in my sink anymore, and to playing with my kids again and cooking. 

Needless to say, I didn't do a whole lot of cooking for my poor little family.  A week or so ago, however, I did have a couple ladies over for a much needed break from the madness.  Cathryn, Kerri and I whipped up these super juicy, flavorful, tangy shrimp while sipping white ladies and anticipating a nice soak in the hot tub to catch up on each other's lives. 

These tasty little beauties are definitely one of my 'go-to' recipes.  We have a friend who after eating them, confessed to me that he didn't even like shrimp...but he liked these ones.  That's always a good sign!  

This time, the ladies and I served them with some rice pilaf and a Caesar salad.  I still think fondly on this dinner, and not only because it was one of the only proper meals I'd had in weeks. 
 

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Skewers


Makes: 6 to 8 servings.

Notes: A brief cure in salt and sugar not only adds flavor to the shrimp and makes them more tender but also acts as a mild preservative for transporting them. You can assemble the skewers through step 2 up to one day ahead; cover and chill.

2 T. kosher salt
2 T. sugar
2 to 2 ½ pounds peeled, deveined shrimp (12 to 15 per lb.), rinsed and drained
¼ C. olive oil
¼ C. chopped parsley
1 T. grated lemon peel
2 or 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
½ teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
Lemon wedges

In a bowl, mix salt and sugar. Add shrimp and stir gently to coat. Cover and chill 45 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse shrimp well and drain; also rinse and dry bowl.

Return shrimp to bowl. Add olive oil, parsley, lemon peel, garlic, and pepper. Mix to coat. Thread shrimp on metal or soaked wooden skewers, running skewer through the body once near the tail and once near the head end of each shrimp so it looks like the letter C.

Lay shrimp skewers on an oiled barbecue grill over hot coals or high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 2 to 3 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook, turning once, until shrimp is bright pink and opaque but still moist-looking in center of thickest part (cut to test), 5 to 6 minutes total. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over shrimp.