Bake It Up

Summer before my freshman year at collage I was nervous but excited. I was signed up for the baking and pastry program at Johnson and Wales University.A couple of weeks before I left for Providence I decided to make the switch to the culinary arts. Now two years later I am finished with my culinary program and moving on to FSM (food service management) to get my bachelors degree. But in the back of my mind there is always the "what if" I did do baking and pastry. I always thought it would be easier to get a job in a kitchen but as time goes on I realize yes, it might be easier but would I be happier? I have no idea.
So I have decided to spend this summer working on my baking chops. (I will be doing a baking and pastry concentration along with FSM, which includes five baking labs which I am super excited about!)

So here is a look at whats been cookin' in my kitchen

Red velvet mix before going into the oven

Seems like the mix tasted goood.. 

mmm out of the oven 

with a cream cheese frosting and cherries in a simple syrup :)

Mini Quiche out of the oven :)

Mini Quiche recipe:

2 large eggs

2T milk

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup diced zucchini

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

sliced olives

olive oil

garlic

nonstick spray

(I made a double batch of the batter. And you can add whatever vegetables you would like including peppers and spinach, I just used whatever was in my fridge)

How To:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

2. In a medium bowl beat two large eggs. Mix in the milk and the flour. Mix until there are no lumps in the batter. 

3. In a medium saute pan heat the olive oil over medium/high heat. Saute the zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic. 

4. Spray a mini cupcake pan with the nonstick cooking spray. Fill each cup with your sauteed veggies. 

5. Pour the egg batter on top of the veggies. Do Not fill to the brim! The quiche will puff up in the oven

6. Bake for about sixteen minutes. The quiche should firm up and turn a nice golden brown. 

I topped mine with some salsa :)

Stay tuned for more baked goods coming your way soon!

It's All in the Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am going to share with you guys the easiest and tastiest chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever tried. The cookies came out soft, and not too sweet which was a huge plus for me seeing as how I am not a sweets lover at all. When I was using the recipe I eye-balled some of the ingredients.. I guess that is why I am not a pastry student, i'm not so good with the whole "exact measurements" thing. Well it seemed to work out in my favor because they came out delicious!
So here it is guys, my no fail chocolate chip cookie recipe :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon slat
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips ( I used Ghiradelli chocolate)

1. Preheat your oven to 350
2. Cream the butter and both sugars together
3. Add the beaten egg and vanilla
4. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and add to the creamed mixture
5. Mix thoroughly and add the chocolate chips.
6. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets and bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown on the edges.

I made my cookies pretty big and did not shape them into nice round shapes either. They kind of had a rustic look to them, but thats just me.

Happy baking everyone!

Boyfriend In the Kitchen

I am just going to come out and say it, my boyfriend is a very lucky guy. Who get's lucky enough to have a culinary student as a girlfriend? Now I know he would probably tell you I never cook for him, which is true and untrue. I have cooked him a few meals in the past but its hard to do when I don't have my own kitchen. Don't worry Daniel, I have decided I am going to be trying out a lot of different desert recipes and i have named you my taste tester, so lots of goodies will be coming your way soon!
But one day Dan randomly decided he wanted to cook us dinner. He wouldn't tell me what he was making, just told me what to do. He kept calling it his "creation" and he seemed very excited about it!
I started off cutting up some garlic and then cutting and breading pieces of chicken. While he was making a tomato sauce and toasting english muffins.. Oh boy, what is going on?! As I pan fried the chicken the boy was making the english muffins into garlic bread. When the chicken was done, he started assembling his masterpiece.

He topped the english muffins with the sauce, pepperoni,
chicken, mozzarella cheese, and more sauce. Then we popped
them into the oven until the cheese was melted. 

The finished product

I have to say, they were actually pretty good! It was nice to have the boy in the kitchen, I think I am going to start expecting him to cook me dinner more often!

Feels Something Like Summertime

Hey there blog readers! I know I say this in about every post but.. it's been a while since i've posted on here. I really am going to try to be more consistent with this thing, I promise!
So here is a little update about what i've been doing.
Last week I went to the x factor with the cousins and my mom. It was a little unorganized and we stood outside in the heat for quite a while but it was fun, and my mom got to shake Simon's hand.

He was really nice!

Monday me and the cousin's went to the NKOTBSB concert! The Backstreet Boys were so good! The concert was a lot of fun. Jordan Sparks was the opening act who was good, along with some girl named Ashlyn Huff who wasn't so good..at all. 

 

The next day we drove down to south jersey to stay by my cousin Victoria's for a couple days. We decided to head down to Philly for the day. 

Yumm! We got lunch at Tony Luke's which was really good.
I got a cheese steak, wiz wit-out which in normal terms is a
cheese steak with cheese wiz and no onions. Mmm. This place
was good, definitely better then Pat's but still not as good as Jims.

No visit to Philly is complete without a stop in condom
kingdom in south street. 

The next day we took a drive down to Long Beach Island, my favorite beach in Jersey. Of coarse we had to stop at our favorite place to eat down there The Chicken or the Egg. YUM. I got my usual, which is the Eggle: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on a grilled bagel. 

No better place then the Jersey Shore. 

The next day we just hit up the outlet stores, went for lunch at PF Changs, and watched some home movies. Then me and ali took the drive back up to North Jersey and got dinner at the always amazing White Manna with the boyfriend. If you have never been there go.. right now. I mean it, get in your car and drive.. it will be worth it, trust me.

So that is all I have for you guy's right now, I have a few more post ideas that I am going to put up for your guys very soon.. expect a couple posts one right after another.. shocking I know. Hope you are all enjoying your summer's!

Anthropologie Inspiration

I have a new love. A new very expensive love. The Anthropologie store opened in the Garden State Plaza, and I have fallen in love with all the earthy, flowery, beautiful things in it. I have decided that I want to base my apartment that I will be living in at school in the fall around that theme. Since the store is rather expensive however, I will be taking little things from the store and use them as inspiration to find other unique things at a cheaper price.
Here is an example of some things from the store..

It's all about the bright colors and flowery prints, along with very simple items. Almost like a Very Bradley bag. If only I could live in a Vera Bradley Catalog.

So today I made my first purchase, which I am wicked excited about. It was one of the cheaper items in the store ($14.00), and is a good starting off point. 

I got the C for Casey obviously!

The one I bought at the store is patterned a little differently. It has more lime green in it which is always a plus for me!

Another thing I may incorporate are these lamp's that my mom found. Right now they are kinda ugly, but with a little bit of paint they can add a nice touch to the room!

Right now they are brown and orange. I'm thinking
about painting these bad boys a turquoise color.

So there is my little update. Haven't put anything up here in a while so I figured I would share with you my current project. I will fill you in on any other little items that I find!