I got home Tuesday from work and was in the best mood ever. I had finished up my calls for the month, then hit the gym for a full force work out, and when I got home, I was pumped about making a nice meal for my hubby. One of the "house favorites" in our house is sweet potato fries. I love the way that they taste, but I hate making them (sweet potatoes have got to be one of the most difficult things to cut), so recently I bought a mandolin in one of many visits to Williams-Sonoma. I was super excited to use my new toy and make some pretty cut fries! So...I washed and peeled my taters and then set up my mandolin. About half-way through I was so proud of myself. I thought, "finally, I will actually make some fries that taste and look good." Little did I know that in a few minutes I would see my thumb lying across the 1/4'' blades cutting my fries! As I neared the end of the potato it become increasingly more difficult to push across the blades, so with all my might, I pushed...still nothing. Finally, I gripped the back of the vegetable grip and went for it again. To my surprise, the gripped slipped through the potato and off of the mandolin, leaving my thumb lying across the blades of the mandolin. All that I could see was blood. I picked up my hand and ran it under the faucet and then wrapped it in a towel and held it as tight as I could. Luckily my hubby was on his way home from work and was only 15 minutes away. Four hours later I got my first shot of Lidocaine, and about an hour after that I had 20 stitches. Yes, twenty stitches in one little thumb. I believe that my doctors exact reaction when she saw my thumb was, "oh my God. What in the world did you do to your thumb?" I was actually very lucky that my thumb was still attached and that I didn't cause any tendon or nerve damage. So, to sum it all up for ya', I got 4, 1/4'' cuts in my thumb, 20 stitches, a whole lotta pain and I didn't get any freakin' dinner :( My biggest tip is to buy a cut resistant gloves if you are even thinking about using a mandolin. I actually researched it and discovered that even big time cooks have been involved in the same type of accident, and these gloves appear the be the best thing ever. Needless to say, my husband already bought me a pair.
About four years ago one of my best friends, Will, introduced me to the Chai Tea Latte. It was love at first taste and nearly four years later it is still my drink of choice at any coffee shop and my go-to when I feel homesick (the spices remind me of holiday baking time when I was young).
Today it was 45 degrees and raining ALL DAY LONG. I was working from home, curled up with my laptop on the couch, and craving a Chai Tea Latte. I do most of my baking on the weekends, so I was also trying to think of things to make when it hit me, a Chai Tea Latte cake! I decided that I wanted try to do this totally from scratch and totally without a recipe! I wrote down a couple of ideas and then consulted with my Chai Tea Latte expert, Will. After hitting the grocery store I got to work in the kitchen on my first "ALL ME" dessert.
I was actually surprised that it turned out on my first try. In the future I would like to see if I could tweak my recipe to make it a little bit lighter. It resembled a typical coffee cake, so I guess that works. If you try it and have any suggestions, please let me know.
Chai Tea Latte Cake
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups AP flour
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup spiced black tea latte concentrate (I used the TAZO brand sold at Starbucks)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
2, 18 oz tubs of Cream Cheese Icing (I used Duncan Hines Whipped Frosting)
1/3 cup spiced black tea latte concentrate
Chai Tea Latte Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream the butter until smooth (a stand mixer makes this much easier but you could use an electric hand-held mixer). Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix until fluffy.
Adding 1 egg at a time, continue to beat. Add the sugar and continue to mix until well mixed and fluffy. In a separate bowl sift the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl combine the milk and vanilla.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk mixture into the original mixture. Stir until well mixed.
Pour mixture evenly into 2 greased 9-inch round cake pans.
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
Beat together the icing and tea concentrate until the tea is totally incorporated.
Ice as desired.
Sprinkle with cinnamon for an extra hint of spice.
* I like to use anything that will help me save time, which is why I used canned icing, but you could also use homemade cream cheese icing.
I am a sucker for a great salad but my husband isn't as crazy about them, but I was able to throw one together that even made him lick his lips. I paired it with my Rosemary Potatoes and Filet Mignon, but this salad would be perfect by itself.
Tonight, for the Cowboy vs. Giants game, Michael and I had a few friends over. Erica, a fellow foodie, and her husband, Dillian, and Isabel and Trey came over. Erica is a high school friend that I have recently reconnected with and Isabel is one of my co-workers. While the guys drank beer and watched the game, we, the ladies, decided to hit the kitchen. Erica found an amazing recipe for some Cranberry-Blueberry Walnut Muffins that sounded insanely good, so we decided to take a stab at them in Kristen's Kitchen :) Luckily after the Cowboys lost we had backup muffins! They were amazing. They even made the guys a little less depressed :) My photos have started to improve, as Erica also showed me how to take really good food pictures with my new camera. Now, grab you oven mitt and head to the kitchen!
Cranberry-Blueberry Walnut Muffins, adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride
2 sticks unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, cold
3 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cup cake flour (7/8 cup AP flour = 1 cup cake flour)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 Tbsp AP or cake flour
4 oz fresh blueberries, rinsed
4 oz fresh cranberries, rinsed
Preheat oven to 375. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, toast chopped walnuts for 5-7 minutes until golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and let the walnuts cool while preparing the batter.
Cream softened butter and cream cheese on medium-high for 1 minute. Add sugar in three batches, creaming on medium-high for 1 minute and scraping down the bowl before each new addition. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and almond extract.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the batter in two batches, mixing on low until just incorporated. Toss cranberries with remaining 1 Tbsp flour to coat. Fold cranberries and walnuts into the batter until evenly distributed. Scoop batter into a well-greased or paper-lined jumbo muffin tin (if you use paper liners, be sure to still grease the top of the tin). I don't recommend using paper liners. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Top each muffin with 1 un-floured cranberry and 3 un-floured blueberries, lightly pressed into the batter, then sprinkle with 1/4-1/2 tsp sugar.
Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer tests done in the center of the muffin. Increase the time if you bake the recipe in large-sized muffin tins.
Yields: Depends on muffin size, approximately 24 regular muffins or 12 large muffins.
Recently (about a year ago) I became very interested in domesticating myself. I began by doing what came natural, being creative and baking. My mom was always doing crafty stuff while I was growing up, and naturally I learned to imitate her. About 10 months ago I began watching the food network and the obsession began. After taking a stab at a few recipes, and succeeding, I decided that I would start a blog to showcase a few of my dishes and connect with other curious cooks.
