light and lemony!

 I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Ours was great, the kids had a blast, I love seeing them on Christmas morning.. it's so cute. It takes my house about a week to recover from Christmas. The boxes, the trash, just the disorganization it brings with five kids and their new toys, electronics etc... drives me nuts!  I'm slowly trying to take down some decorations, garland on the banisters, stockings etc..

Although very much dead with lots of needles on the ground, I keep the tree up till after New Years.. small confession.. I took off the ornaments!

Anyways, if you follow my blog you know that I am a HUGE baker, and I have posted a lot of desserts... well, now that the holidays are over, and we got our fill of Christmas cookies and desserts, it's time to get light and fresh. What better way to do that then with lemony Chicken Picatta!

 Lemons are one of my most favorite things to cook with. I add the zest into cookies, icing, sauces and main dishes. I use the zest as a rub, with fresh herbs and garlic for fish, it's so versatile. Lemons are so fresh and add such a clean taste to food. This is  my favorite recipe for Chicken Piccata from one of my most favorite chefs and I am sure you will love it too!

P.S. So sorry about the terrible picture :)

Enjoy




Chicken  Piccata

Ina Garten

• 2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1/2 tablespoon water
• 3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• Good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Sliced lemon, for serving
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Juice your lemons

Dredge chicken

saute chicken and set aside

butter, lemon juice, wine

add lemons

Chocolate Chocolate and MORE Chocolate!

How many of you are in need of a dessert recipe to bring along Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Well, I'm your girl! I have the best  and most simple mint brownies with chocolate icing, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, and 7 layer bars... your choice! Oh, and that's if you are not bringing the Cranberry cake that was on my other post ( that cake is AMAZING!)

Anyways... I have been so busy in the kitchen take a look :)

Enjoy! xoxo


Chocolate Crinkles

Allrecipes


Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. I like to use a number 50 size scoop. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

scoop out your cookie dough

give it a roll in powdered sugar

on the cookie sheet and in the oven

Mint Brownies

 bliss n tell


1 box brownie mix ( prepared as directed on the back of the box)
1 cup Andes  Creme de Menthe baking chips


heat oven to 350 and mix together all ingredients needed for brownies ( eggs, oil and water) add 1 cup of the Andes baking chips and mix together.. bake as directed in a 13x9x2 pan. Mine take 22 minutes

Cool for at least an hour.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter melted
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 T. milk

Combine butter, cocoa, powdered sugar,vanilla and milk in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth.

Frost brownies and garnish with extra baking chips or Shaved Andes mints.

Berry Best Cake Ever!

This is the CranBERRY BEST cake ever! It is Decembers cake that the Cake Slice Bakers were baking from by Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. It is the best so far... My neighbor was having her girlfriends over, so after I sampled the first piece of the cake, I passed it along to her to serve for dessert. They all seemed to really enjoy it and are requesting the recipe... It is a TRUE keeper!

I  really can't wait to bake it again! Next time I'm going to add my own flair and add some orange zest to the batter. I love the flavor combination of cranberry and orange. I am going to bake it bake for Christmas Eve.. what a great Holiday cake! The red of the cranberries make it look so festive, and Holiday worthy. The topping is a crunchy, sweet mixture of almonds and brown sugar and of course butter! It pairs so nice with the tartness of the cranberries. This cake was so moist and tender. Serve it with some vanilla ice cream or homemade whip cream.

A few things to note... The recipe calls for sliced almonds. I wanted the texture of the topping to be a bit crunchy, so I used half slivered and half sliced almonds. It also made it look beautiful on top to have the different types of almonds. Also, mine baked for a hour and 20 minutes.. the recipe says an hour to an hour and ten minutes. The batter will be very thick.. keep an eye on it while baking and do not over bake! One last thing... to get your cakes moist, you can't over beat them! So slowly add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and fold it in gently!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

thecakesliceblogroll.blogspot.com

Cookies and memories

It's almost Christmas... my kids are getting so excited, and so am I... I just love Christmas time, I remember my mom baking lots of cookies this time of year and I was always in the kitchen by her side, She was an amazing baker,  and truly an amazing mother, friend, wife, daughter and sister. Today is the anniversary of her passing, I am going to post yet another Christmas cookie in her honor. I really wish she was here to bake along side me now, but I know she is next to me in Spirit.


Peace

"All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother"
Abraham Lincoln

It's Chili Outside

It's freezing outside! The first snow of the season is here! I have to say I am not too happy about it, I will admit, I don't really love snow! I love the look of snow, and the peacefulness it brings when we are all snowed in, but we all know that only lasts so long... then it's just a pain. I was not expecting this storm.. so I didn't make a mad rush to the grocery store, So I am posting a recipe that I tried for the first time- luckily with things I had already in the pantry, White Bean Chicken Chili. To me this is more like a soup rather than a chili.. but I still liked it.  This can be a great meal to make if you have leftover chicken.

I love chili in the cold months, and soon I will post my most favorite recipe, but until then this is a nice alternative-- something light, inexpensive, healthy and filling. Stay Warm! Brrrrr!

Toffee Bark

I hope you all had a great weekend! I did accomplish a little bit of shopping, and we went to a  Christmas party last night , so it is really beginning to feel like the Holiday Season.

I promised myself to make cookies every weekend and this weekend is my easy and most delish Toffee bark. Made with simple saltine crackers, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate.. you can't go wrong! I dress up the top with heath bar bits.. or sometimes crushed candy canes!

Place them in little baggies, with a ribbon and give as gifts, if you don't eat the whole pan first!

Enjoy!

No Bake Cookies.. What?

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope all of you have great plans for the weekend! My weekend is filled with kids birthday parties, and my Stella & Dot trunk shows! It is another busy weekend! The good think is that I decorated the inside of my house for Christmas last weekend, so now all we need is the tree! Which, I am not so certain we will have time to get this weekend, but we may fit in a trip to sit on Santa's lap:)

The weather is really starting to get cold and feel like Christmas, and if you are getting in the spirit of the season, maybe you will use this recipe to kick of your cookie baking with this easy no bake cookie. I did not use peanut butter :( bummer, because I love LOVE it, but my son has a peanut allergy.. so, for those of you that bake these tell me how yummy they are with the peanut butter so I can dream of what they would taste like. They tasted really good with out it, so the peanut butter is an added bonus! I dusted the tops with a little powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Oatmeal No bake Cookies


Adapted from cooks.com

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter

Combine sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in a saucepan. On medium heat, bring to a boil for one full minute. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter (optional), vanilla and oatmeal.

Drop by spoonful onto wax paper. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Almost Christmas Quiche

Quiche is so great because you can make it for any meal of the day. It looks beautiful on a breakfast or brunch buffet, it's quick enough to whip up for friends coming over for lunch, and pair it with a side salad for dinner...

I'm super busy this week and needed a quick and healthy dinner for us. This quiche is low fat because I use an egg substitute ( you can use real eggs if you want) and low fat milk instead of cream. You can add any veggie and cheese pair, but today I used Romano Cheese for the salty bite, along with asparagus and sun dried to tomatoes for their sweet flavor.

Whatever meal you are making this for I am sure it will be a hit! The green of the asparagus and red of the sundried tomatoes make this my" Christmas Quiche." If you are vegetarian keep it as is.. if not add some browned spicy or mild sausage, ham or bacon to make it your Christmas morning Quiche!

Happy December 1st!