I did it...

Ill blog about it later, but just so you know, I TOTALLY did it...365 recipes in 365 days...check it off the list!! stay with me for the epilogue...

Day 362: Checkerboard Hummus Tea Sandwiches

Yield: 4 sandwiches
Time (Start to Finish): 45 min

Ingredients:
2 slices white bread
2 slices dark wheat bread
butter

½ can garbanzo beans or chick peas
2 cloves garlic
¼ tsp onion powder
salt and pepper
1 lemon zested
½ lemon juiced
olive oil (about ½ cup, maybe more)

Directions:
1. To make the hummus, use a food processor
2. Add the chick peas, garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper, lemon juice and zest and turn on
3. Drizzle olive oil in until if becomes a paste. You will need to scrape it down half way through and taste to adjust seasoning. Add oil until it is spreadable like mayo
4. To make the checker sandwiches, take the 4 sliced of bread and stack them on top of each other
5. Put butter between each layer so they are stuck together and then cut the crusts off
6. Cut the bread stack into slices so there are layers of bread and butter
7. Take the slices and stack them using more butter. Look on the side and make sure that the white bread and the brown bread are alternating
8. You will slice these also so you will make a total of 8 slices, checkered together (sorry if this is confusing!!)
9. Spread hummus on the bread and put into 4 sandwiches and serve with tea!

Rating: 4 strawberries
Notes: These are just the cutest little sandwiches ever!! I am sorry if my explanation is a little confusing…I realized later that I should have taken photos of the process, but maybe I will for after my blog. The hummus is sooo good! My roomie alley just couldn’t stop eating it, and you can flavor it however you like…add some chipolte, or herbs and make it your own! These are great to serve at a tea or luncheon. 4 more days!!! AAAHHH!!

Day 361: Chicken Tetrazzini

Yield: 3-4 servings
Time (Start to Finish): 1 hour

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked spaghetti noodles, salted water

2 cups sliced brown mushrooms
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup white wine

1 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 ½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup white wine
1/8 cup flour
¼ tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 cup chicken broth
½ lemon, juiced

1 ½ cup roasted chicken chopped up

½ cup parmesan cheese
½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375F and get a square baking dish out and ready
2. Cook the pasta and set aside
3. In a skillet heat up the butter, mushrooms and wine and cool until the liquid is almost all gone and remove the mushrooms
4. Add the butter, chopped garlic to the pan
5. Add the flour and whisk together
6. Add the heavy cream, wine, and chicken broth and whisk until it becomes thick
7. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice and taste to adjust seasonings
8. Add the mushrooms and the chicken and the noodles and stir all together
9. Pour into the baking dish and flatten
10. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top, and the bread crumbs on top of it
11. Take the last Tbsp of butter and cut into pieces and sprinkle them on top
12. Bake until the sauce begins to bubble and the top browns

Rating: 4.5 strawberries
Notes: This is a dish I used to eat all the time as a kid, but the frozen kind. I have never made it from scratch before, and let me tell you, its not that bad. There are a lot of dishes to clean, but this tastes great hot out of the oven, and even better as leftovers for lunch. No one got to eat it but me, house to myself, but I did make the house smell amazing. 5 days left guys!!! Time to warm up the bellies!

Day 360: Chocolate Soufflé

Yield: 5-6 soufflés
Time (Start to Finish): 1 hour

Ingredients:
¼ cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips
3 eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch cream of tartar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar

butter
sugar
left over bananas foster

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F
2. Take the butter (not the ¼ cup) and spread it generously in the 6 ramekins
3. Coat the butter with sugar and set on a cookie sheet. Make sure they aren’t touching
4. Melt the chocolate with the butter and put in a bog bowl
5. In a mixer take the egg yolks and the sugar and mix on high until they are light and fluffy, about 5 min. this can be done while the chocolate is melting
6. Stir together the chocolate and egg mixture until combined in the big bowl
7. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and stir
8. In a clean dry mixing bowl add the egg whites and cream of tartar
9. Put on high and once they begin to turn white add the Tbsp of sugar
10. Mix until they become stiff peaks
11. Add 1/3 of the whites to the chocolate mixture and mix together
12. Add the rest and fold together until smooth
13. Spoon into ramekins ¾ of the way and put in the center of the oven
14. You will be serving there IMMEDIATELY, so if you are not ready, cover them with plastic and you can store in the fridge for a couple of hours
15. Bake in the center of the rack for 10 min or until they poof up and the edges begin to crisp. Try not to over bake
16. Serve with the bananas foster in the center or on the side

Rating: 4.5 strawberries
Notes: Ok, so I was going to make molten chocolate cake, but messed up by not halving the recipe like I meant to, so it turned into chocolate soufflés! They are SOOO good! Thanks for sharing with me Audrey! She came in the door at just the right time. The bananas foster in the center makes it PERFECT. There is nothing more perfect than fruit and chocolate. This is SUCH a great treat. You have to serve it right out of the oven or the soufflé will fall, so make sure to be on top of that, have the plates ready and everyone seated. They still taste killer if they fall, so don’t worry about it. 6 days left guys!! The magic continues!

Day 359: Bananas Foster

Yield: 2 cups
Time (Start to Finish): 20 min

Ingredients:
¼ stick butter (2 Tbsp)
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt
1 banana, sliced
¼ cup whiskey
½ cup pecan pieces, toasted

Directions:
1. In a sauce pan, combine the butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together and cook on med heat until the sugar melts
2. Add the sliced banana
3. Once the banana begins to soften and brown add the whiskey and cook until it becomes a smooth sauce, about 3 min
4. Add the pecans and pour over ice cream or pancakes!

Rating: 4.5 strawberries
Notes: Yummy!!! Nothing better than bananas and caramel! I am saving this for tomorrow’s recipe, but it is best over ice cream and served right away. It also makes the house smell unbelievable. The nuts should be toasted beforehand, and you can really add a number of fruits, apples, apricots, anything you like. It also doesn’t take much time at all. 7 more days guys, almost there…WOW!

Day 358: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Yield: 1 pie
Time (Start to Finish): 1 hour 30 min

Ingredients:
2 pie crusts (day 289 or store bought)
1 ½ cup sugar
1 16 oz bag frozen strawberries
5-8 fresh strawberries, sliced
3 cups fresh rhubarb, about 6 stalks
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 lemon, zested and juiced
5 Tbsp corn starch
pinch salt
1 egg
splash buttermilk
decorating sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Line the bottom of the pie pan with one of the crusts, and cut the other one to make a lattice design. Look at day 358 to help
3. In a sauce pot, put the frozen strawberries, rhubarb cut into ½ inch pieces, lemon zest, juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, corn starch, salt. Do NOT put the fresh berries in here
4. Mix together until the frozen berries are melted and pour the mixture into the pie dish. You want it to be warm but not boiling
5. Add the fresh sliced strawberries on top
6. Lattice the top crust onto the pie and pinch the edges
7. In a bowl combine the egg and the buttermilk
8. Brush it on top of the pie, sprinkle with sugar, place on a cookie sheet for drips and bake for about an hour or until the crust is brown and the insides are bubbling.
9. Let cool and serve

Rating: 4 strawberries
Notes: Happy Birthday to my good friend Josh! His actual birthday is the same day as Kaylas, but we are celebrating today with oysters, mussels, and of course, pie. This is his favorite, so I had no choice!! I made it, brought it to his house, and it was eaten faster than I could put it down! I hear they made fresh churros when I left and dipped it in the left over pie filling…yummy!! I didn’t make the crust from scratch, I didn’t have time, so the rating isn’t higher, but it is still a great pie. Also, I may even add a little more corn starch, it was a bit runnier than I would want it to be. Either way, make this pie, shove it in your face, and enjoy guys!! 8 days left!!

Day 357: Trifecta Cake

Yield: 1 9 inch rectangle cake pan
Time (Start to Finish): 3 hours

Ingredients:
1/3 recipe devils food cake
1/3 recipe angel food cake
1/3 recipe red velvet cake

Directions:
1. If anyone is interested in making this cake, please look up good fast recipes for each of these cakes. I suggest making to red velvet first as it is the messiest
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. Take all three batters, pour the angel food into a greased sheet, add the other two batters on top in lines
4. With a fork swirl all the batters together to make any design you like
5. Bake for about 30 min or until a knife comes out clean in the middle

Rating: 3.5 strawberries
Notes: Ok, let me explain this weird one…my roomie alley’s aunt is having a baby, and she asked me to make mini cupcakes for her baby shower, which I of course said yes to. I make devils food, angel food and red velvet and had left over batter. I wanted to see what a cake would look like with all three and this is it! It is actually pretty tasty, but I don’t think it is worth the effort to make it on its own. If you need to make a lot of cupcakes, save a little batter and try this out. The cupcakes came out great by the way!!! And congrats alley’s aunt!! Im an aunt too!!! Oh, and 9 days left!!!

Day 356: Kayla’s Eggplant Parmesan

Yield: 1-2 servings
Time (Start to Finish): 30 min

Ingredients:
4 slices eggplant
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
¼ cup buttermilk
1 cup marinara sauce
½ cup asiago cheese, shredded
½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 string cheese sticks

Directions:
1. Preheat a skillet to med/led high
2. Put bread crumbs in a bowl with salt, pepper, asiago, half of the parm, and cayenne
3. In another bowl put the egg and buttermilk and whisk together with a fork
4. Put olive oil in the pan
5. Dip the eggplant in the egg mixture, then the bread crumb and then put on the skillet
6. Cook until it begins to brown, flip and cook the other side
7. On a plate, but the marinara sauce
8. Place the cooked eggplant on the plate and sprinkle the rest of the parm on top
9. Add slices of the string cheese and serve

Rating: 4.5 strawberries
Notes: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLA!!! I am an AUNT!! My brother had a baby girl today, perfect and beautiful, and to celebrate our new little eggplant, I cook up some eggplant. What I love about this recipe is that I got out of work at 730, biked home, cooked it and was sitting down eating it at 830. It is fast, super good, homey, warm, and just a perfect little dish. I know eggplant isn’t very nutritious, but it tastes good with sauce and cheese all over it. I cant believe I am an aunt today!!! This is a nice meal to serve up to a family also! Make it in no time and be sure to impress anyone. You can season the bread crumbs yourself if you like. I just got Italian seasoned. Oh, AND THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!! 10 days till my project is over!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

Day 355: Peanut Butter Apple Crisp

Yield: 1 4 inch pan
Time (Start to Finish): 1 hour

Ingredients:
2 green apples, peeled and cubed
¼ cup brown sugar
1 lemon, zested
¼ cup flour
¼ cup rolled oats
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
pinch salt
1 egg white
1 Tbsp butter, melted
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup sliced almonds

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In a bowl mix the apples with brown sugar and lemon zest and pour into the pan
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until smooth
4. Add the egg white, butter, and peanut butter and stir until combined. You can add more flour if it is too sticky
5. Spread over the top of the apple mixture and bake for about half an hour until the top is brown and the apples are cooked.

Rating: 4 strawberries
Notes: Sorry for the super bad photo! I thought it was better when I took it. This recipe gets a low rating because I didn’t have any ice cream with it! Peanut butter and apples is a snack I just LOVE to have. It fills me up and is pretty healthy. So why not find a way to make it into a dessert! This dish is just perfect. It is sweet, and has some nutrition with the peanut butter and almonds. You can make it with any fruit, or use almond butter if you prefer (I don’t really like the taste too much). I hope you guys like this dish, it is pretty awesomely perfect for a san fran summer.

Day 354: Brown Butter Orange Waffles

Yield: 6 waffles
Time (Start to Finish): 45 min

Ingredients:
2 eggs
¾ cup butter
2 cups four
1 ¾ cup milk
1 Tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
½ tsp vanilla
1 orange, zested
1 Tbsp orange juice

extra butter
orange juice and zest

Directions:
1. In a skillet, put the butter on med heat
2. Let the butter cook until it browns. It should take about 5 min, and stir it while it is cooking. The browning makes a nice nutty taste. You can brown it as dark as you like
3. Remove the butter from the heat and set aside
4. Heat up your waffle maker
5. In a bowl, combine the eggs and milk
6. Add the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt and stir until almost combined
7. Add the vanilla, orange zest and juice and the butter and stir until it is all together
8. Pour into waffle maker to make waffles
9. If you want, you can make extra brown butter, add orange juice and zest and use to pour on top

Rating: 4.5 strawberries
Notes: A nice home cooked breakfast for my house!! This is a super yummy recipe, but the waffles get soft if you let them sit out too long, so make them fresh as people come in! I also used left over orange cream as something to put on top as well as the orange butter I talked about. Brown butter adds just a hint of a different rustic taste which I love. Once you try it you will love it too. Thanks for enjoying this with me girls!! You CAN make this with other citrus, but orange is by far the best…you can even add a little whiskey to the butter, hehehe

Day 353: Almond Tuile Sandwich Cookies

Yield: 16 cookies, 8 sandwiches
Time (Start to Finish): 1 hour

Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
½ cup egg whites (about 3)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
5 Tbsp flour
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup lightly toasted sliced almonds
1 tsp orange juice
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ orange zested

orange amaretto cream from yesterday, Day 352

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F
2. Whisk together the sugar, egg whites, vanilla, orange juice, and zest
3. Add the salt, flour, and cinnamon
4. Add the melted butter and make sure it is all whisked together
5. Fold in the almonds and put in the fridge or freezer for about 30 min until it is thick from the butter rehardening
6. Generously grease a cookie sheet and spoon teaspoon size amounts of batter VERY far apart…maybe like 4 cookies per cookie sheet and spread the almonds out in the batter
7. Bake for about 7 minutes or until they are brown. Try not to under bake them or they will be soft
8. Let them cool on the pan for a minute and then remove and put on a cooling rack
9. Take the orange amaretto cream and spread in between 2 of the cookies, however much you like and serve immediately. If traveling with these, spread the cream on when you get there

Rating: 5 strawberries
Notes: Another 5 strawberries!! These were better than I ever thought they could be! The cookie is light and crispy and the cream adds a ton of flavor. The almonds should be lightly toasted first, and im telling you they are great. They wont be even in size or perfectly round but once you take a bite you will be hooked. Also they are very attractive with their almond pieces. Thanks to the girls from Boston visiting who helped me eat these yummy treats, and today I ran my first 8 miles! Longest I ever have, so it was nice to reward myself with something sweet! Oh, and silly me made the cream yesterday and somehow brought it to work (cooking in the AM makes me loopy) and I left it in the fridge, so I had to make it all over again…thank goodness it is the best thing in the world. I am telling you, you must try these bad boys!

Day 352: Orange Amaretto Cream

Yield: 1 cup
Time (Start to Finish): 15 min

Ingredients:
1 small or ½ large orange zested
1-2 tsp amaretto (almond flavored liquor)
¼ cup cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar (you may not use whole box)

Directions:
1. In a bowl combine the cream cheese with the orange zest and amaretto. Taste and add more orange or liquor if you need to. If this is being served to kids, add almond extract instead
2. Add sifted powdered sugar in ½ cup portions until it becomes a frosting that is thick enough to hold shape but thin enough to spread. You want to be able to spread it on cookies!
3. Store in the fridge or counter overnight. If you store in the fridge, take out at least 2 hours before using so it comes to room temperature

Rating: 4.5 strawberries
Notes: This is a KILLER cream! You can double the recipe and use it as a frosting (just note that there will be pieces of zest in the recipe) It is sweet and FULL of flavor. One of the best creams I have made! I am going to use it tomorrow to spread on some killer cookies, but you can use it for a lot of different things. The cream cheese is what makes it, so try not to sub butter. Also, try to use philly’s cream cheese. I have played with store brand cream cheeses and they are watery and not worth it at all. If you are going to do something, do it the best you can, which means using quality ingredients. Yummy!!

Day 351: Rocky Road Ice Cream

Yield: 1 pint
Time (Start to Finish): 5 hours

Ingredients:
3 cups heavy whipping cream
chocolate sauce (to taste)
½ cup condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini marshmallows
½ cup toasted almonds
½ cup toasted pistachios
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. In a bowl combine the cream with the chocolate sauce, condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon and taste to adjust flavors
2. Pour into your ice cream maker and according to directions make the ice cream
3. When it comes out smooth like soft serve, add the marshmallows, almonds and pistachios and put in the freezer until it is frozen and enjoy!

Rating: 4 strawberries
Notes: I just didn’t have time to make a deep rich chocolate ice cream base, so this is a nice quick fix. You can make a chocolate crème anglaise if you like, but if you don’t have time, like me, this is the way to go. You don’t NEED an ice cream maker, but I highly recommend it, they make it smooth. This ice cream is my favorite flavor. I LOVE rocky road, and have been eating so much of it lately, I know I needed to just make some. I added the pistachios because there was a rocky road in Colorado that used to do that and I loved it! You can add any chocolate sauce you like, I used Ghirardelli, which is awesome and by my work, but any sauce will do. Better sauce, better final product. I hope you try this out and love it.

Day 350: Avocado Mango Guacamole

Yield: 1 bowl
Time (Start to Finish): 25 min

Ingredients:
1 avocado
1 mango
2 limes
salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion
1 tsp onion powder
1 garlic clove

Directions:
1. Chop up the onion and the garlic clove together very fine
2. Chop the mango into small pieces as well
3. Take the avocado and mash in a bowl
4. Add the lime juice, salt and pepper, and onion powder
5. Add the mango and garlic/onion, and mix together
6. Taste and adjust seasonings

Rating: 3.5 strawberries
Notes: It needs cilantro!!! That is why it is not better! Get some fresh cilantro and throw it in there! I tried to make an avocado soup, but I didn’t have any thinning agent, like cream or chicken stock, so I made this awesome guacamole. It is good and different, but for sure needs cilantro. Good with salty chips and watching any type of game, or just for dinner if you are me. I have made a lot of Guacamoles and this one is a nice twist. I hope you try it out. I bet you could even put in a little fresh basil. Enjoy!