French Vanilla Coke

One more:  since my brain is always wanting to create something, even when I'm at work, I decided to make my plain coke more interesting.  I decided to add french vanilla creamer to it.  It was not as good as the vanilla coke I love to buy, but it was pretty good.  Maybe an 8.  The only problem was that as soon as I added the creamer, it exploded like a shaken up pop and made a sticky mess everywhere (you can still see some of the bubbles on the photo)!  Oh well, it was still good!

Abba Zabba

I don't remember how long I've had this cookbook, but I know the last time I made this recipe I was still working at the police department.  I haven't been there since April 2006!  The first time I made it I rated it a 9.  I used more cream cheese & peanut butter than the recipe called for, but other than that it looks like I pretty much stuck to the recipe.  Thus time, however, I decided I would save myself some money and instead of buying the individual ingredients, I bought a bag of trail mix.  It is pretty good, I'd still give it a 9, but I have a feeling it was slightly better the original way because of the pretzels.  The recipe calls for: yogurt-covered pretzels, white chocolate chips, and peanuts.  The trail mix I used has: white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, almonds, peanuts, cashews, golden raisins, & cranberries.  The added bonus of extra nuts and raisins is really good.  And as you can see, MuLan liked it too!     

German Engineering

I can't fairly rate this recipe because I screwed it up.  It's supposed to be made with potatoes, but I ended up using rice.  I cooked the same hash browns I used for the BBQ potato & egg dish I made last week, but for some reason they burned.  I have no idea why since they cooked just fine last time.  So I was not able to use them in this dish.  The changes I made on purpose were: I used red wine vinegar infused w/ pomegranate (I really like that stuff) instead of sherry vinegar, I didn't have caraway seeds to use, & I used veggie sausage instead of kielbasa, and I added sage, garlic, and oregano.  It would have been better w/o the oregano.  And I decided to add leftover Italian cheese at the last minute (after I burnt the potatoes).  I could only rate this a low 7 because it was kind of boring, but still tasted okay.  I am pretty sure the potatoes would have made this an 8 1/2.  I'll try it again some time with the potatoes and even buy some caraway seeds! 

French Kiss

I made this tortilla second.  I was having a hard time deciding how to rate it.  It is an unusual flavor, but not bad.  The more I ate it, the more I liked it, so I gave it an 8.  The only thing I changed was that I didn't use tuna fish or olives.  Oh yeah, and I sauteed the green pepper, onion, and tarragon since I don't like peppers or onions raw.  And I like to saute whatever flavors I use with my veggies just so the flavors mesh together better.  I didn't even know I had tarragon, & I probably wouldn't have known I had it if I hadn't just reorganized my cabinets!  I hadn't even opened the bottle yet.  I wasn't sure what it would taste like, but I like it.  All in all, this is pretty good, and easy to make & didn't take a lot of ingredients, so I would make it again.   

Chow Sal-Mein

I made 4 wraps this afternoon.  I'm really tired, so I'll make this fast.  I was up late trying to get Zinnia of my neighbor's roof (long story), and wasn't able to sleep in, so I would love to take a nap in about an hour!  Anyway, I decided to make so many so I could have the fillings pre-made and just slap them onto a tortilla for my dinners all week.  I'll post these in order that I made them.  I started with this Chinese-style one.  This is the best one of all I've made.  Easily a 10!  I made a few changes to the recipe: I added 3 stalks of celery, and instead of water chestnuts (which I don't like) I used cashews (even though one's a veggie & one's a nut!).  And I didn't realize the recipe called for fresh ginger - I didn't buy any - so I just used powered.  I also, of course, omitted the salmon.  The only thing I would do different is double the orange-ginger sauce because it was a little dry. 

Huevos Wrapcheros

I made these this morning for my breakfast.  I don't usually eat breakfast, but I made an exception just so I could try this recipe.  I've made similar recipes.  In October I made scrambled eggs with leftover filling I had used for my Mexican stuffed peppers (I posted it then).  And I've added salsa w/ eggs to a tortilla before.  So this is not unique for me, but there was one thing different I never would have thought of trying that I loved - cinnamon.  I never would have thought of adding cinnamon, but I really liked the combination.  I didn't actually measure it, just added some.  Also, it calls for picante sauce, cilantro, oregano, cumin, & basil.  But instead I just added salsa (and skipped the picante sauce) since it had all those spices already.  I also added sour cream.  I chose the two wraps I made this weekend b/c I tried to work around ingredients I already had at home & only had to buy a few things.  I can't wait to try some more recipes next week.  Oh yeah, this is pretty good, an 8 1/2.

Barbecued & Sunny-Side Up

I've been trying to go through all my cookbooks and get rid of ones I never use.  I had forgotten about this cookbook, "Wraps."  I made 2 recipes out of it a long time ago and really liked both of them.  I made this recipe yesterday.  It is really good, an 8 1/2.  I decided to add the veggie bacon & garlic.  I also added cheese and sour cream.  I think I would like to add a green pepper to it and ranch dressing (instead of sour cream) next time I make it, that might bump it up to a 9 or possibly 10!  (I took a bunch of photos b/c I couldn't decide how to present it.  It looked yummy at several different angles.)

Happy Valentine's Day Animal Treats

I decided to make the apple cinnamon delights and magic muttballs again today for my valentines!  Here are some photos of the dogs watching me make their treats (too bad the litter box is in the photo!) and of the cats enjoying the muttballs.  It looks like Zette & Twyla are just sniffing them, but they ate the treats too.  It makes me happy to see those I love enjoying the treats I make for them.  Last time I made the applesauce treats I just made bone, dog, & cat shapes.  But this time I made more shapes just for fun.  I made bones, hearts, cats, dogs, sheep, rabbits, birds (not pictured) & chicks.      

Cocoa Brownies With Browned Butter & Walnuts

The cover on the "bon appetit" magazine says these are the "best-ever brownies."  I disagree.  I made brownies for my ex-co-worker Natalie's birthday about 3 years ago that were a 10.  These are an 8.  I don't remember where I got that recipe from that I made for Natalie, but I remember that I added a package of vanilla pudding mix to the batter (my idea), and they were super moist and really yummy.  These are not bad, but the other brownies were much better.They were, however, very easy to make, and only took a few ingredients.  I made one pan w/ walnuts and one w/ pecans.  I only took one small bite from the pecan pan since these are for work tomorrow for Valentine's Day (as are the cookies), so maybe they'll taste better after they settle.  Anyway, not bad, but not the "best-ever"!

Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies AKA: The Little Red Cat Cookies

I've been waiting for a while to try my invention of The Little Red Cat Cookies.  I wanted it to match the signature drink I created.  I mostly cheated by not being 100% original like I was with the drink (but my Little Red Cat Pizza was original!).  I used the base for the cream cheese cookies I made for Christmas.  But I changed the flavors.  I changed the almond to cinnamon, but not like the flavor in cinnamon rolls, but like a red hot candy flavor mixed with the sweetness of vanilla, just like the drink.  I had planned on crushing up the red hots and putting them in the cookies, but when I chopped them in the food processor, I accidentally made them too fine like a powder, and not what I wanted.  I was glad to find the crushed ones at the store, so I got them this morning after the dough was made, so I just sprinkled them on top, but I like that idea better.  I was crazy about the drink, and I am about the cookies too.  Maybe not everyone's taste (since not everyone likes red hots), but they are a 10 in my book.  The perfect blend of spicy and sweet like Corin!

Homemade Dill Potato Chips

I am obsessed with the Pringles extreme dill potato chips.  Since I had a small bag of potatoes, I decided to try to make my own dill potato chips, but a healthy version.  I sliced them really thin with my food processor (I love that thing!).  I added olive oil, coarse salt, and dill (of course), and baked them.  (Funny, I used to never use olive oil, but now I do.  The organic extra virigin is okay.)  I really wanted them crispy, but they began to burn, so I had to take them out of the oven.  They are basically just like a normal baked potato with seasoning.  I'll have to figure out how to make them crispy without the unhealthy frying.  They were pretty good though, an 8.  Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day baking (after a dog walk in Boise).  I'm finally going to try the brownies from "bon appetite" and my Little Red Cat Cookies!  Should be fun baking!     

Pesto, Cheese, & Fresh Tomato Pizza

This took an ridiculously long time to make.  I started it around 12:00 and finished it about 3:30 (about 20 minutes ago).  There was way too much drama with this pizza!  The first problem was my stupid leaking faucet in my kitchen.  I had to change the washers again (twice in the hot water), then when I started to add the water for the yeast, the hot water washer broke AGAIN, so I had to crawl under the house for the 5th time and turn the water off again, and change the washer again, and crawl back under the house (for the 6th time) and turn the water back on again.  I used the hot water in the bathroom after that!  On top of that, the recipe in the Cuisinart book for the pizza dough was all screwed up.  It made a runny dough, so apparently their measurements were wrong.  I remembered the crust I had used twice before that I really loved, but didn't know which "bon appetit" I had come from.  So I turned on my computer & got on my blog to find the right magazine cover.  Finally the dough was made.  Oh yeah, and the battery in my camera died, so I had to charge it for a few minutes, then take a photo, then charge it, etc.  All that stupid drama just for a pizza!  But, it was so worth it.  This is my one of my favorite pizzas I have ever made, easily a 10!  I wasn't sure I would like the pesto, but it's so good with the 3 cheeses and the diced tomatoes (I bought canned instead of fresh since I didn't know when I'd make the pizza & didn't want my tomatoes to go bad).  I wish I had taken a picture of the pesto before I added it to the pizza (or at least before I added the cheese on top), it was so pretty!  So far, all the recipes I've tried in the Cuisinart book have been very good, so I'm surprised the pizza dough recipe was so weird.  Oh well, I love this other crust w/ the honey in it.  Maybe I should rename this pizza "Worth the Drama Pizza"!     

Frito Pie

I used to work with a dispatcher that always talked about making Frito pie; it was a family favorite.  I think it's supposed to be baked in a dish like a pie (as the name suggests), but this is my version.  I layered Fritos, then my homemade chili, then cheese, repeat those 3, then cooked in microwave for 3 minutes.  I topped with sour cream and fresh tomatoes. Yum!  A 10!

Salted Peanut Chews - Again

I am making these again for my friend Cheryl's birthday.  But I added some variations from the ones I made at Christmas.  They are supposed to be made with peanut butter chips & peanuts, but for #1 I used peanut butter/chocolate chips and walnuts, and for #2 I used butterscotch chips and pecans/almonds (the lighter colored pan).  I haven't had a chance to taste them yet, but the original ones were a 10, so I'm sure these are too!

Turkey Sausage & Sun-Dried Tomato Puff Pastry Pinwheels

I made these for my dad for Valentine's day (since he's diabetic & can't have candy).  I used veggie sausage & diced tomatoes. I forgot to get a shallot, so I used 1/2 an onion, and I couldn't find my pepper, so I skipped it.  The asiago cheese is pretty strong (first time I've used it), but it was still pretty good, an 8 1/2.  Minus the onions, they would be a great dog treat too!

Magic Muttballs - Dog/Cat Treats

These are supposed to be made w/ minced chicken, but I decided to make these w/ canned dog food (since I don't buy meat).  But then I decided to switch to cat food b/c the dog food was not the right consistency.  The dogs and cats both loved these a lot.  The last photo is of Frodo enjoying a muttball!