Delectible Marinara

It's Mom's anniversary so I made her spagetti, on her request. Everyone, including myself, was blown away by how good it was, especially since I was just winging it, following no recipie. The secret was all in the sauce.

Delectable Marinara

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon sweet basil
2 teaspoons parsley
32 oz tomato sauce
5 Italian sausages (I used mild, but you can use spicier sausages as well)
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
1 pinch Ancho chilli pepper
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Take out the Italian sausages and remove the casings. Cook until brown all the way through. DO NOT cook whole, mash them up so that the pieces are at most 1/4 of an inch in legenth. This is VERY important. Once cooked, set aside. Keep the grease from the sausages.

Take the onion and the garlic and mince very finely. Put in skillet with a splash of olive oil and the bay leaves. Cook until the onions are faintly yellow, not yet completly carmilized. Once they are cooked, pour the tomato sauce in the skillet. Add the parsley, basil, salt, pepper, Ancho, and the sausages and their grease. Turn heat down to a simmer, and let simmer, uncovered for fifteen minutes. Pour over pasta, or eat with mozzerella sticks. Enjoy!

Help for Flat Cookies

Everyone wants to know why their cookies always turn out flat. Many people have found answers on their own, such as adding more flour or even using different pans. I think that the simplest answer is instead of using baking soda, use baking powder. It helps things rise, such as cakes, as bakers want to have tall, fluffy cakes without using yeast. My Mom consistantly had this problem, and when I gave her the answer, she doubted it. Since her next batch of cookies were not flat, I have a feeling that this is the answer.

(And yes, those cookies are not raw.)

Delictible Raspberry Mousse

This recipe was originally from Usborne Activity's Fairy Cookbook. I made a few changes, and everyone loved it. It's a perfect touch to a party.

To make 8 mousses:
A 12 oz box of raspberries
8 tablespoons of powdered sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
2 cups whipping cream
10 meringues

1. Mash raspberries in a large bowl until they are thoroughly squashed, and add the powdered sugar. Stir.
2. Add the vanilla yogurt and stir.
3. Set bowl aside and turn the whipping cream into whipped cream, and add it into the raspberry mix.
4. Continue stirring until the mixture is pink. Crush the meringues and add them in. Stir.
5. Spoon the mousse into dishes. Enjoy!!

Two New Potato Recipies

These potatoes are absolutely scrumptious!!

Ingredients:
Small potatoes
Olive Oil

Instructions:
1. Cut potatoes in half
2. Pour olive oil over the halved potatoes
3. Bake in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes
4. Toss and out back in oven for another 15 minutes.
5. Enjoy!!

Variations:

Variation #1:
Add salt and pepper before baking.

Variation #2
Add chives before baking.

Lemon-Mint Tea

Yum!!! For all you tea lovers out there, you have hit the jackpot!!!! And if you're a coffee drinker, maybe it's time to try something new. Also, the ingredients might be hard to find, but the result is worth it!!

Ingredients and Stuff:
1 tablespoon lemon balm(it's a plant leaf)
1 tablespoon mint leaf
a kettle
a closed-top strainer(small enough to fit in a cup)
Water
sugar

Boil water in tea kettle. In the meantime, cut up the lemon balm and mint leafs and put them in the strainer. When the water is boiled, pour into cup and put the strainer in the cup. Let soak for about 2 minutes. Add sugar as desired. Enjoy!!

Mixed Friut Smoothie

We had just got a new blender, and we wanted to try it out right away!! So I whipped up these delicious smoothies.

Ingredients:
A handful of strawberries

A handful of blueberries

half a banana( I used under ripe ones)

2 handfuls of ice

A splash of milk

Mix in blender untill smooth. Enjoy!

Honey Fried Peanuts

After my sister got home from a track meet, she was craving honey rosted peanuts. Since I don't know how to roast peanuts, I made fried ones instead. Mmmmm.... they were good, and you can find the ingredients just lying around in the house!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup peanuts(unsalted)
honey
salt

Get out a frying pan. Cover the bottom of the frying pan with honey. Add peanuts. Cover with a drizziling of honey. Fry, constantly turning the peanuts untill the honey is boiling. (Yes honey boils. I was surprised too.) Add salt. Stir. Remove from pan and into a glass or ceramic bowl. Allow to cool. Enjoy!!

A Super Soup!!!

Sorry for not posting for so long, but I was looking for worthy things to put on my blog, and now I have an awsome super soup! The ingredients are easy to find if you don't have them already. Well, here it is!!

Super Chicken Noodle Potato Soup:

Ingredients:
2 and a half teaspoons chicken better than boullion (or 2 and a half boullion cubes.)
20 oz water
1 lb of potatos, cubed
a dash of salt and pepper
as many noodles as you want (I usally use about a cup)

Add all the ingredents in a pot. Boil untill potatos are tender and noodles are al dente.
Enjoy!!!

Deluisous Shepard's Pie

This is a recipe I picked up on Google. It's by this person called Chef floWer. At least that's what it said. It's really good and even Aaron liked it, and that's saying something!!! Here's the recipe.

Bottom of the pan:
200 g Ready Made frozen Pastry Dough, defrosted

Filling:
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped and ready to go
1 carrot sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 English Pea, defrosted
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon sage, chopped
1/4 crumbled leaf thyme
1 dash of marjoram
2 cups shredded chicken
salt and pepper
1/3 cup milk
20 grams butter
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Mash potato, More if you want thick, less if you want thin
1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
2. To make the filling: In a large pan set over low heat, add oil and heat oil until sizzling. Add onions, carrots, celery, peas, and garlic.Saute' until the onions are transparent and carrots are nice and soft, about ten minutes.
4. Remove from heat and add the Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram, shredded chicken, salt, and pepper. Allow to cool.
5. place the pastry dough into a pie tin. Do not cut yet.Pour over cooked chicken filling, remove excess pastry by cutting the edge set aside. Spread the mashed potatoes over the chicken filling and score it with a fork.
6. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the sauce is hot and bubbly.
7. Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.
8. Enjoy!

Super eggs!!!

These eggs are the best eggs you will ever taste! Time to start cooking!!!!!!
Ingredients:
4 eggs
butter
a splash of milk
a teaspoon of rosmary
a dash of nutmeg
a handful of cheese

1. butter the pan.
2. heat the pan on medium heat.
3. Beat the eggs in a bowl.
4. Add the milk and cheese and stir well.
5. Add rosemary and nutmeg
6. Pour the mixture into the heated pan and scramble them.
7. Enjoy!

Spice Cake

Here's a really easy and quick recipe for spice cake. This was one of the things that I just take random ingredients and plop them in the bowl. Now, I test all of these and I can tell you they work! Also, I just want to tell you that this spice cake has a fragile taste and if you want a stronger taste I recommend you put in more spices or sugar in the recipe. OK here it is:
Spice Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter

1.Put flour in bowl with butter. Mix until fine like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. In another bowl beat the eggs. Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the bowl with the eggs.
4. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until it looks like cake batter.
5. Put into cake pan. Put it in for 15 minuets at 350 degrees.
6. Enjoy!