FINALLY!

Today is the day!

Happy Birthday Abby!

In honor of my friend Abby's birthday (yesterday), I made her a batch of Mint-Chocolate-Chip ice cream. At the last minute I decided the ice cream would be even better in between two chocolate chip cookies, so I whipped up a batch pronto. For the ice cream I went with the same basic French Vanilla ice cream recipe as last time (found in the book that came with the attachment). But before pouring the batter into the freeze bowl, I added a good amount of peppermint extract (2-3 teaspoons?) and a bunch of green food coloring (10 drops?)...Abby and I both agree that Mint-Chocolate-Chip ice cream should always be GREEN. After about 15 minutes in mixer the green batter was ready for a shower of semi-sweet cut-up chocolate chips. When the ice cream became firm-set and the cookies were cooled, I constructed the sandwiches and wrapped them up to freeze.

We ate up the ice cream sandwiches so quickly that I forgot to take a picture...the ice cream was
amazingly creamy and delicious, and the cookies topped it off perfectly.

My friend Kelly and I are most thankful that Back in the Day Bakery was open today. After taking Lou the puggle over to the dog park for playtime, we wanted some WARM food...and we totally lucked out because they had awesome 3 bean veggie chili and ciabatta bread, talk about comfort food.

It's almost time for the weekend....

Holidaze...Making, Baking & Eating

Happy 2009 !
I thought I would be able to keep up with this while on break with Shawn, but I guess I was wrong. With a finicky Internet connection, loads of things to do & family commitments--I just never got around to it. BUT it is a new year & I am determined to keep up with my blog.

Make!
Due to my lack of employment, I thought it would be a good idea to hand-make most of my Christmas gifts this year. I came across this cute & easy Jingle mouse ornament pattern via the CRAFT magazine blog, created Pimpstitch. I completed about 15 of these little guys (and girls) for friends & family members. Some were dressed in Christmas print & others in plaid, polka dots & gingham prints. I gave them away in these perfect little kraftpaper boxes by Martha Stewart @ Michaels, fitted with a silver ribbon & stamped names atop. They were definitely well received & I'm sure I'll be making more in the near future.

I had plans to make these great looking stockings found via the Craft magazine blog, from Stitched in Time by Alicia Paulson (Potter Craft) but I ran out of time....maybe next year. I also attempted to make these glitter ornaments for friends and family using their initials, but I only made it through about 4. (Exact-o cutting foam core is tedious!)

Bake!Eat!

I am a lucky lady because I received the best birthday gift from my wonderful mother...a brand new pistachio green Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer. This thing is so amazing, it makes me want to bake something everyday. Chocolate Chip Cookies seemed to be appropriate for my first time around with my new mixer, easy and uncomplicated. I used the recipe found in the little spiral bound book that came with the mixer and they were sooooo perfect, all gobbled up in less than 24 hours.

The cookies were just the beginning...I also made Pecan Tassies (with the help of my mom). Similar to the recipe found at the joyofbaking.com. I look forward to eating these every Christmas. They taste just like mini Pecan Pies. The Tassies became gifts wrapped in wax paper, packaged in little kraft bags along with red&green candy covered pretzel rods&flips. We also whipped up some Peppermint Bark in a hurry, just like the stuff sold at fancy high end cooking stores. The treats were a hit, we received so many compliments and requests for more, I can't wait to make more for next year.

From cookies to bread. My mother's good friend Brenda (who happens to be the sweetest person on the planet), grinds her wheat to make her own flour. For Christmas she gave me enough of her home-ground wheat flours & dry ingredients to make a double batch of this bread recipe. The recipe made enough to give away a few loaves and was absolutely delicious toasted with a little bit of butter. *I used egg, olive oil, and gluten.

Visitors and cake! My friend Alexis and her boyfriend Jordon were in Florida visiting family in Jacksonville and they came down to Orlando for the day to hang out. Alexis' birthday just happens to be January 31, so Angela and I decided to make her a cake and try out our fondant skills. We used boxed cake mix (yup!) and colored it purple with neon food coloring (crazy!!). It was two layers with a white frosting layer in between. We went with a snowflake/winter theme, see below...also, on a whim, I made s'more cupcakes. Soooooo much cake...

I also received the ice cream attachment for my mixer from my rad Dad. (The attachment can be found here.) So, for New Years Eve, after our homemade pizza party, we ate the most awesome French Vanilla Ice Cream ever. I went with the recipe found in the booklet that came with the attachment because it seemed to be the most basic. I cooked the cream in the morning and then around 9pm we put it in the frozen mixer bowl and watched the frozen cream churn into real ice cream in less than 15 minutes. Again, this mixer is totally amazing. (And it's fun to watch.)

Just before heading back to Savannah for Shawn's final quarter at SCAD, I whipped up this Build-A-Bear Princess Bear cake for my friend Angela's 2 year old niece, Mia. The cake pan can be found here. Because I was short on time I used a strawberry boxed cake mix with a cream cheese frosting (gasp!). The cake was so moist and I was so impatient, that some parts fell of when trimming (head, feet, & tail), but I was able to get it back together with the frosting and the help of some skewers. She came out beautifully in the end. With a little fondant outfit, tiara and star wand. Sugar in the Raw worked out perfectly for the texture of her fur, but next time I will use chocolate frosting to make a brown bear. I can't wait to see the video of little Mia receiving & eating it.

Time for some vegetables.


Next time I should have news on some Madeline cookies, a *secret*something*special*, & maybe even some ice cream...

Sunday Night Chowder

It's getting cold here in Savannah, so yesterday afternoon I decided to make my favorite chowder, Martha Stewart's White Cheddar Corn Chowder. Being thrifty I opted to use frozen organic corn instead of fresh of the cob and the cheddar cheese I had the 'fridge already. I have to say it came out great but I do miss the crisp sweetness of the fresh corn. For some reason it was thicker than I remember but it is chowder. Can't wait to have it again tonight with spinach salad...mmm....

Here's Sunday night's version:

Cheddar Topped Corn Chowder

Serves 6 (maybe)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup) (I used a sweet onion, 'cos I like 'em)
  
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (sometimes a little more is better)
  
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used the Riesling that I already had)
  
• 1 bag mini gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups Organic Vegetable Stock (Vegetarian here!)
  
• 1 cup 2% Reduced Fat milk
• 3 cups frozen organic corn
  
• Salt
• Ground Pepper
  
• 2 ounces medium cheddar cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup) (or whatever Cheese you like!)
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add celery, and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, and cayenne. Raise heat to medium-high, and add wine. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add potatoes, stock, and milk, and bring to a boil (it says to skim any foam from surface but I have never done that because I'm a lazy cook, so you decide if you want to do that). Reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Add corn, and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer 2 cups soup to a blender. Let cool slightly, then puree. (OK, be careful here, if you put it in the blender hot and try to blend it right away you WILL make an absolute mess and burn yourself...I might know this from past experience.)Return puree to pan, and stir. Reheat if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into bowls, and top with cheese. Chowder can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

first post!

Hello & Welcome!
I'm Erica and this is my new blog make.bake.eat. Recently, I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Fibers and have found more time to learn some new things on my own, such as my new obsession: cooking and baking. I decided to create this blog as a place for me to share my food and cooking experiences. Enjoy!