Pineapple Sorbet

I've been dying to make ice cream but I lack the energy to stand at the hot stovetop to make the custard for it. A sorbet was a perfect solution! It really doesn't get much easier than this. I had a fresh pineapple and all I needed was some sugar and water. All of it goes in the food processor, then it chills for a bit, and then it churns in the ice cream maker. I had a small bowl of it just now and it was light, creamy, and sweet. It really wasn't a lot of sugar but naturally sweet. Yum.

I used my cookbook The Perfect Scoop, but a quick search online showed me that one of my favorite blogs also used the same recipe so there is a link below if you'd like to see the recipe.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pineapple Sorbet.

Close-up of the pineapple goodness:

Cupcakes

This is what 8 dozen cupcakes looks like in my refrigerator. Good thing we haven't gotten groceries yet for the week- there is no room for anything else!

Classic White Cake with Butter Frosting

I wouldn't have thought that this white cake would be my favorite of the three but it was! The white cake was fluffy and almond sweet! I even think the butter frosting was very good and I'm not a big fan of sweet, sweet frosting.

I used a star tip to make the frosting fancy :)



I used my Baking Illustrated cookbook for this recipe but I did find it online too.
Click here for the stolen recipe for Classic White Layer Cake with Butter Frosting.
The recipe originally included a raspberry almond filling but I didn't have any need for it.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

The second cupcake are these delicious Double Chocolate Cupcakes. The original recipe called them Triple Chocolate Cupcakes but I left out the chocolate ganache filling, just to make it easier for myself. I don't know if the Double chocolate part is that it's a devil's food cupcake with chocolate cream cheese frosting or the fact that I had to use two different chocolates in this recipe- Dutch cocoa (Penzey's) and lots and lots of bittersweet chocolate. You just can't go wrong with all that chocolate. I think this is one of the best chocolate frostings EVER!

Sprinkles make everything festive!



I love my new cupcake carrier! I am now the proud owner of TWO of them, so I'm able to transport SIX dozen cupcakes very nicely now. Wow, I could go into business :)

There is a dome top with a handle, I didn't have it attached in this picture.



Click here for the stolen recipe for Triple Chocolate Cupcakes (though I only made the Double)!

Oreo Cupcakes

I'll be blogging about the three different cupcakes that I made for my dear brother-in-law's 40th birthday party. The first cupcakes are Oreo Cupcakes. Yum. An Oreo on the bottom of the cupcake liner, topped with white cake with Oreos crumbled in, and then a cream cheese frosting with Oreo crumbs and an Oreo wedge on top. Oh yum!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Oreo Cupcakes!

Happy Birthday Richie!

Crockpot pulled pork sandwiches

Updated to include a picture! We revisit this recipe often. This time my dear, wonderful husband made this recipe and it was waiting for me when I got home from a long day at work. The smell was wonderful when I walked through that door!

Now I didn't get a picture of the finished product but I remember taking this picture in November and thinking that even the spices look pretty! And they naturally just looked like a heart so I stopped to take the picture. And then I didn't take any more pictures. Oh well. (Never fear- there are great pictures on the blog site linked below!)

We've made this pulled pork recipe a few times now and we love it. It makes TONS and it freezes well. It's very easy to make, and ahead of time! That's the best- being organized and thinking things out ahead of time. I love when I'm organized like THAT.





Click here for the stolen recipe for Crockpot Pulled Pork.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Oh yeah. With one bite left of the cake on my plate I thought it might be better called Chocolate Overdose, but then a minute later I was eyeing the little bit that my son left on his plate, thinking I could go for more...

It was damn good. My husband said this was in his top three of desserts ever. (#1- Chocolate Intensity Cake, #2- Key Lime Pie)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake.

This was no easy recipe but I loved it. The first layer needed to be baked and then cooled for an hour before you could start the second layer. The second and third layers were simple enough but involved a bit of time. And you can't do this recipe without a stand up mixer. There are egg whites to be whipped, and then heavy cream too- twice. My husband thought it took me "hours" to make but it was just lots of steps over a few hours.

When can we make this again?? I sent most of the leftovers home with our guests. We have two small pieces left for tomorrow. I can't wait.

More Ginger Ale!

My husband tried a different recipe for ginger ale- it involved cooking the ginger and maybe making a simple syrup (I wasn't there), instead of the carbonation process with yeast.

We liked the recipe but liked the carbonation of the first recipe.

I like his determination to get the perfect recipe :)

Pesto Fraise Basilic (Strawberry Basil Pesto)

I didn't even know this kind of pesto existed until I was looking for a pesto recipe on the same website that wrote about the herb freezing technique. I typed in "pesto" in the search and many different kinds came up. I figured I'd try a traditional recipe, but maybe half it because I only had a handful of basil from my basil plants. And then I saw strawberry basil pesto. I wouldn't have imagined that combo.

So I made it because I had a lot of strawberries that were almost over ripe, and I knew my son wouldn't eat them. I had all of the ingredients so I decided to be wild and crazy.

I wish this had been crazy good but it was just good. It tastes like a sweet pesto. It looked pink at first but now its a dull gray green.

Click here for the recipe for Strawberry Basil Pesto.



I tried a bit of it in some pasta with chicken and cherry tomatoes. It was a light sauce, not overpowering.

I think I like regular pesto. I am intrigued by sun dried tomato pesto though... I saw that recipe on that blog. Maybe soon.

Herbs

I wanted to harvest some of my herbs to encourage their growth so I trimmed some stalks of rosemary, thyme, and oregano. I also cut some basil, thinking I could make a small batch of pesto.

I read that you can freeze hard herbs (like the thyme and rosemary) and use them like fresh herbs later.

Click here for the stolen technique for freezing herbs.

Now I'm off to research what I can do with my fresh herbs. I know I always avoid recipes that call for fresh rosemary and thyme because the little containers of fresh herbs at the grocery store are too expensive. If I freeze enough I can be cooking all winter long with my freezer stock! Yeah!