Nonni's Blueberry Muffins

I'm pretty sure that blueberry muffins have always been my favorite type of muffin.  While I love all kinds of bread/muffins, nothing holds a candle to the deliciousness of a home baked blueberry muffin.  Even the deliciously UNHEALTHY coffee cake muffin at Dunkin Donuts can't hold a candle.

Maybe I'm just biased because I was fortunate enough to grow up with Nonni (my grandmother) making the most delicious muffins, ever!  And it's funny, because I don't even think this recipe for blueberry muffins is HER original recipe.  It's a friend of her's....But as I don't know all of the details, I suppose it's only right to give Nonni the credit for creating the most delicious muffin on the face of the planet.

After a long hiatus from blogging and baking, these muffins were my second adventure over 4th of July weekend.  They tasted so delicious, and since they're delicious warm or cold, they went FAST.  I suggest you make them.  And eat them.

Nonni's Blueberry Muffins

The Recipe

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbps Vanilla extract

3 cups blueberries

(Cranberries can be substituted, chopped, but add an extra 1/2 cup sugar!)

The Method

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, beating into the butter/sugar mixture one at a time.  Add the milk, flour, baking powder, and vanilla.  Once the mixture is well incorporated, fold in the blueberries.  Do not use the mixer here - make sure to fold everything together by hand, and be very careful not to smash the berries!

Scoop into paper-lined muffin tins (make sure you use papers here - if you don't use the papers, you will end up with a big mess!).  I used a large ice cream scoop and it filled the papers perfectly (about 20 muffins).

Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes

Enjoy!!!

Spumoni Pound Cake

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last blog.  I guess we'll call it a 2013 Hiatus.  So many things have been happening in life, I feel like I don't know where to start.

We have continued on our Journey of the house.  We still have a ton more to do, but it's coming along.

I am getting over a particularly nasty bout with poison ivy (from the yard, again).  At least we think it's poison ivy.  Maybe it's something different.  In any case, I'm on prednisone again...

I haven't been baking a ton.  Until this weekend.  And I realized how much I really enjoy baking.

So let's talk Spumoni.

What is Spumoni?  Technically, it's an Italian Dessert of molded ice cream, typically cherry, pistachio, and either chocolate or vanilla.  It's delicious.  (Note:  National Spumoni Day in the US is August 21).

We have had a recipe in the family for as long as I can remember for Spumoni Pound Cake.  Obviously it's not ice cream, but it takes the key flavors of cherry and pistachio and puts it into cake form.  It's one of my favorites, and it seems to come out "different" every time I make it.  Different - yet delicious.

Spumoni Pound Cake
The Recipe

2 boxes yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
8 eggs
16-oz sour cream
1 cup oil
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
1 tsp vanilla
red food coloring
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp almond extract
green food coloring

The Method

Mix together the cake mix, pudding, eggs, sour cream, and oil.  Separate the batter equally into 3 bowls.  In the first bowl, add the chopped cherries, red food coloring, and vanilla extract.  In the second bowl, add the chopped walnuts, green food coloring, and almond extract.  Leave the third bowl as is.

Grease and flour a long loaf pan (15"x4"x4").  Layer the batter, first the white, then the green, then the red.  DO NOT SWIRL!  

Bake at 375* for about 75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Check after about 60 minutes, and cover with foil if getting too browned.

The best part about spumoni cake is cutting it....You never know what the inside will look like!!

Slice, eat, and ENJOY!!

Super Simple Dinners: Frittata!

The best thing about frittata is that you can put whatever you want in it, and it almost always comes out delicious.

I mentioned before that my sister had the brilliancy to make a "menu" for the week....I did that this week, and "Frittata" was one of the meals on my list.  I decided to leave some wiggle room on the type of Frittata, and when I went to the market I bought a ham steak, asparagus, and goat cheese.  I L-O-V-E goat cheese, by the way.

So how did I make said Frittata?  It's so simple!!

The Ingredients
1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 8-oz Ham Steak, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bunch of Asparagus, chopped into about 1" segments
1 large Potato (or 2, however much you want), chopped
8 whole eggs
6 egg whites
salt and pepper, to taste
2-4 oz semi-soft Goat Cheese

The Method

• Chop the onion and ham into small pieces and saute in olive oil in a large skillet (I used a 12-inch skillet).  Make sure whatever skillet you use is large enough to hold all the ingredients, and is oven-safe
• Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus in water in another pan.  This helps so that you're not adding raw asparagus into the cooked onions/ham.
• Chop the potato and add to the onions/ham (I actually used a baked potato that was left over from some take-out over the weekend.  It was baked, and refrigerated.  So I peeled the skin off, and chopped it up and threw it into the mix.  This made it super easy and quick, since all I needed to do was heat it through because it was already cooked!)
• Add the cooked asparagus, and season with salt and pepper
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, and a splash of milk.  Add this into the ham/asparagus mix.  Mix everything together
• Cut the goat cheese into small chunks and sprinkle on the top of the egg mixture.  I only put cheese on half of mine, because I wasn't sure if my husband would like it (which he did), so I only used 2 oz...
• Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes until the center is cooked and firm!
• Cook for a few minutes, cook, and serve!!

Seriously!  It's the most delicious thing ever!!!

Enjoy!!

Super Simple Dinners: Chicken Caesar Salad

For the past two weeks, I've been in NJ for work.  Overall, it wasn't a fun trip, but did result in 2 visits to my sister's...Which was fun.  The first visit, it was just the two of us, and we had a lot of laughs over dinner and a bottle of wine.  The second visit, Timur (her husband) was home and the three of us had a great dinner and wine.

While I was on my 2nd visit, I helped my sister prepare dinner and noticed something on the refrigerator....Something that I decided I was going to adopt as a habit.  It was a weekly meal list.  The simple act of writing out what is for dinner each night of the week can really make life so simple.  Basically, they decide what they're going to have for dinner over the weekend, and then go to the market on Sunday to buy needed ingredients for the week.

It's the simplest thing - but it takes the guess work out of dinner time...It also takes care of the "I'd really like to make X but I'm missing 3 ingredients."  

So Stephanie...You're a genius.  Just don't let it go to your head.  :o)

So one of the meals on my sister's list was Chicken Caesar Salad.  I got so excited when I saw this because she made it for me once before and I fell in love with it.  She gave me the recipe, but I still haven't made it yet...But I WILL be making it this week!

So here it is!!  (from www.myrecipes.com)

11 cup romaine lettuce 
1 cup red bell pepper
3 Tbsp olive oil 
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
2 tsp Dijon mustard 
1/4 tsp sugar 
1/4 tsp table salt 
1/4 tsp black pepper 
1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s) 
1 1/2 cup(s) plain croutons 
1/2 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese 
2 pound(s) roasted skinless chicken breast

Remove chicken from bones and shred with 2 forks to measure 3 cups meat. 

Combine chicken, lettuce, and bell pepper in a large bowl. 

For vinaigrette: combine oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. 

Pour over salad. Toss well, sprinkle with croutons and cheese, and toss gently to combine.

Enjoy!!