I haven't forgotten

 First, let me wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !! I can't believe its been sooooooo long since my last post. I have so many new recipes that I have done, for the Holidays and what not. Some were a success and some, not so much... It is going to take me a while to get everything ready to post, but it will be worth the wait. In the mean while, I have a few things I've fallen in Love with that I wish to share, and hopefully in the future I will have more of these...

 I have been inspired by a Beautiful Blog by a Lady named Yvonne at Stone Gable, I will be adding a little link to her place on the side and I urge all of you to go visit...
 Another place I go to daily is a blog by Heather Bullard, I really wish that some day my photos will be half as Beautiful...

 

 Last but certainly not least There is a Magical Place Called Tartelette I am absolutely in Love with Everything Helen does and its just a small snippet of what has inspired me lately

  
  Hopefully these will provide you a little bit of inspiration like they have for me, and I will be looking forward to showing you what I have been up to lately...
 With Love,
  Kat

Blueberry Muffins

I've been wanting to make these for a while now, I was trying to wait for Blueberry season, which is around the end of June, July, but I couldn't wait, so I used frozen blueberries,they turned out just as delicious:).

  Here are the ingredients needed :
  1 1/2 C. flour
  3/4 C. white sugar   
  1/2 tsp. salt
  2 tsp. baking powder
  1/3 C vegetable oil
  1 Lg. egg
  1/3 C. milk
  1 C. blueberries
  1/2 C. white sugar
  1/3 C. flour
  1/4 C. butter
  1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
     Preheat your oven to 400. Grease or even easier line muffin pan with paper liners.

,

        Combine 1 1/2 C. flour with 3/4 C. sugar and the baking powder in mixing bowl.
         Now this next step seems a little weird, but it's right. In a 1 C. measuring cup mix together the 1/3 C.
vegetable oil, one Large egg, and fill the rest of the cup with the milk...

                                       

                                                                                              
     Mix this little concoction in with the flour mixture mix on med speed for only about 1 minute or so...
                                         

                                         

   Gently fold in about 1 to 1 1/2 C. of the blueberries, now if using fresh make sure they are washed and drained really well, if using frozen, make sure they are defrosted,rinsed and drained really well...

                                         

       

                         
                                      Doesn't that look yummy??? Now, evenly divide this into your 12 Cup prepared muffin pan...                    

   

                 
        Now for the best part... Creating the delicious crumb topping ...Mix together 1/4 C. butter at room temperature, the 1/2 C. sugar 1/3 C. flour and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, use a fork or pastry blender to create those delicious little crumbs. 

       

                        
Try and evenly distribute the crumbs on the top of each muffin, it seems like a lot, and it is!! This is gonna be Good!!

             
Pop these babies in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, make sure to do the toothpick test before removing them, it is hard to tell by looking due to the crumb topping... 

    When done, let cool in the pan only about 10 minutes or so, the crumb topping will try to cool and make it tougher to get the little buggers out...

      Ta!!Da!! mmmmmmmmmm absolutely delicious, now pour yourself a Cup of coffee, or a tall glass of milk,and enjoy!! Let me know what you think, I would Love to hear from you, Comments welcome!
   Working hard on a pumpkin cheesecake cupcake, and a few chocolate ones as well. Until next time...
xoxo, Kat                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Easter at The Broadway Market

I know its been a couple of weeks, but today I found myself with the time to do a little bit of  the things we tend to put off, like making Dr.s appointments,calling friends we need at least an hour to talk to,washing curtains, yadaa,yadda,yadda. I also found a little time to upload some of my pics from my camera and there it was!! My Easter trip to The Broadway Market.
 I remember that day, it was really warm outside, and I figured I was early enough before Easter that it wouldn't be the madhouse I remember when you go on Good Friday or Easter Saturday, Boy was I wrong!! 4 days before the big day and it was chaos, but the good kind, the kind you dont mind witnessing, from little kids all covered in peep sugar and chocolate, to Babcis and Nanas holding out their money to the vendors and yelling something in Polish , I wish I understood more...

 I went by myself so it was nice I was able to leisurely stroll through the place and really take it all in with no distractions, I loved looking at all the crafts from Poland,especially the hand painted eggs, they really are beautiful ... 

            

      As I made my way to the baked goods and candy I did manage to buy some Polish sausage,of course some pierogis, and some chocolate covered popcorn, I did not get good pics though, the people were so crammed in like sardines I had to be ready to pounce when they called my number !!
    I bought a placzek and a babka from this bakery...

      Of course they were as delicious as they look, but I must say (with hand over heart) Not as good as yours Mom :) and of course I bought these Chrusciki...

           These are a staple at the Polish Easter Table, but of course, they did not make it to Easter, I do believe they were all gone by that evening!!
           The chocolates from Strawberry Island were delicious, These Peeps are all tucked in, in their little chocolate blankets all cozy in that display cooler, kids were gobbling these up, but my teeth hurt just looking at them, so I opted for a chocolate covered pretzel, YUM!!

                                       

                           

                                     

                                                                                                                                                                              The experience at the Broadway Market for me any way is bittersweet, on one hand it is a Polish tradition that has been handed to me by my Mother and Grandmother, and now hopefully soon, one of my kids will want to go at Easter time. On the other hand, I think it is something that should be done other times of the year, not just that one yearly Easter pilgrimage, I hope to go another time or two throughout the summer, maybe during strawberry season, or when all the fresh farm veggies are ready, hopefully I can get there again, and when I do youll get to see...
        I would love to hear any comments or if you have any tidbits from your trip to the Broadway Market, I would love to hear... Thanks, xoxo Kat                               

Sunshine and Sugar Cookies...

 Into the kitchen this morning,with a need to bake some soft yummy Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies. I had every intention of trying to create a cream cheese raspberry type filling, but why?? Come Summer time when berries are in season is when I should be doing that so I switched gears...
 I scrounged around through my recipes, (I really do need to organize those) and I also looked on my on-line recipe box and finally found one that I wanted to try, I have a few , they are all pretty close,but this one sounded simple, and delicious,who doesn't like that right??
 This will be  the first time I do an on-line tutorial type post, so bear with me, I am so inspired by my fellow bakers out there who make every ingredient look so delicious when they do this, that I had to give it a try. It is also a good simple recipe for me to start with, not too many steps to photograph, so here goes, these are your ingredients...
  2 3/4 C. flour
  1C. butter or margarine (I am a strong supporter of pure butter in all baked goods, but the Land O Lakes Margerine in these was wonderful)
  1 1/2 C. White Sugar
  1 tsp. vanilla
  1/2 tsp. baking powder
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  1 Lg. egg
 Pre-heat your oven to 375*

                         In a bowl, mix together your flour,baking powder, and baking soda, set aside...

                   Make sure your butter, or margarine is NICE AND SOFT AT ROOM TEMP :)

                          Cream together the Margarine and Sugar till its nice and fluffy...

     Add egg and vanilla, Please break the egg into a bowl first, we dont like the shells, and Also, This is my All -time favorite kind of Vanilla, and its not crazy expensive either...

                   Gradually combine the dry ingredients with the wet, just a little at a time...

                       All Done!!... Now pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, or what have you :)

                    Use your 1/2 Tbsp. measuring spoon to scoop out these little guys and roll them gently to make these little balls... Bake for exactly 10 min.

                                                                                                                                                                      MMMMMMMM, Can you smell em'?? They really do smell good, Way better than Yankee Candle Sugar Cookie (lol).

                                 Cooling off nicely... Patiently waiting for the kids to get off the bus...

                 Finished!! These really are that simple, and you Definately dont need to frost these, they are sweet enough on their own, Hope you enjoy!
                 Well, that didnt seem too hard, Please leave me a comment and let me know if this tutorial was good, bad, whatever.Also, if you ever think about writing your own tutorials and your taking your own photos, like I did, make sure you dont get flour on the camera lense :) Thanks xoxo Kat              

I'm Back...

I'm back with new dedication to the food that has been keeping me so busy I've had NO time to write...
I've been busy with the Day Job(DJ) for so long that I have forgotten what this little experiment was supposed to be about, hey!! It takes a lot to bake,photograph,and then write about it, BUT at last I've been inspired. I do suppose it may be that winter is over,or Spring has peeked its head up throughout my gardens, who cares how inspiration comes, as long as it doesnt stop coming right??
Here is a small sample of what I've started with. I made the Chocolate,chocolate chip with Fudge frosting cupcakes for my son Adam, Who is now 15 going on 20...


Also, Yesterday, I decided I was going to chocolate cover some stuff, The Pretzels are Snyder's Sourdough Specials and they are by far the BEST tasting pretzel in the world!!! Then when you add chocolate , Heavenly mmmmmmmmmmm, I also decided to add some crushed walnuts, I really just wish you had taste-o-vision


I have a recipe that makes the best homemade peanut butter balls, and if you use the brands and measurements I recommend you will not fail...



These are soooooo easy here goes...
1 1/2 C. Jif Peanut Butter
1C Graham Cracker crumbs, you can buy the crumbs or grind them yourself, its up to you
1/2 C powdered sugar
1 to 1 1/2 C. Rice Crispies

Combine all ingredients and gently mix together, you dont want to smash the Rice Crispies.
Refridgerate for at least 1 hour or so.
Roll mixture into about 1/2 inch balls or so. Refridgerate the little guys.
Melt some chocolate, I use Candymakers or Merkens, candy coating wafers, chips dont really melt smoothly, and I havent practiced tempering so I'm not good at it yet...so the wafers do the job just as nice...
Roll the little balls in the chocolate to coat nicely, use a fork to lift it out and set into paper candy cups or even right onto a wax paper covered tray...
There you have it, these will not last long I guarantee it

Till Next Time,
xoxo Kat

Food,Food,Food

Hey, Remember me??? Have been soooooo busy working, I almost forgot about you, (no, not really, just trying to write in the middle of the night). Hey that doesnt work so well,!!
Working on getting some really good stuff together, the Holidays are fast approaching, (like you need me to remind you) so, I'll have a few great recipes, and some other tidbits to enjoy...
Check back soon :)

Ok,Ok, give me a few days

I was on vacation, in Washington DC, Let me get over all the food, I think I gained 10 lbs...
New post in the works...
Luv,
Kat