Something Saturdays (11/30/13)

teeheee, love this video. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! (for those in the US that is :P)

I had a lovely Thanksgiving, just eating and relaxing with Michael. Then, yesterday, I got to take my aunt and 2 of my cousins (who were in Connecticut visiting family) around the city. Which was SO fun! And tooodayyy, WE'RE GONNA DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Cookie Dough S'mores-3 Ways

Happy day before Thanksgiving! I hope all of your preparations are going smoothly and no stress is going on. I know it's a bit of a pipe dream....but I still hope it's true :P With all the stress and drama that can come with big events like holidays, I think today we should just focus on pure, simple, easy, perfect, yumminess.

In the form of s'mores. Made with eggless cookie dough. In 3 (and potentially more) different ways. YES.

I'm gonna lay a little math on ya:

2 wrongs DO NOT=a right.

2 awesome things DO=EPICLY AMAZING THINGS

S'mores=GOOD.
Cookie Dough=GOOD.
Cookie Dough S'mores=GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.
3 DIFFERENT KINDS of cookie dough s'mores=EPIC!

Yeah, I know, I'm like pretty much Einstein.

If you're Kayle, and you're staring down the idea of adding egg-less cookie dough to a s'more...you can't just leave well enough alone. That evil little part of your brain says "Mmm what if you used dark chocolate? AND OH! Add some sea salt on top!" and then "You do have some of that homemade nutella in the refrigerator too soo...that should probably happen." and then "Darnit. We're out of salted caramel sauce. That probs would've been amazing. Ughhhh. Why is life so unfaaaaair?! #firstworldproblems"

So uh yeah. I took some homemade graham crackers (because duh) and then I made my 3 kinds of s'mores-one with some milk chocolate, one with dark chocolate and sea salt, and one with nutella.

MMMMMMmmmmmmmm.....!

Can you guess which my favorite was?

The salted dark chocolate!!

Are you surprised?? I kind of was-when it comes to s'mores I tend to be a purist and love the classic milk chocolate and, while that was scrumdidlyumptious....holy cow, cookie dough + graham crackers +toasted marshmallow + dark chocolate + sea salt=OH MY GAWWWWD FANTABULOUSITY! Just...such a perfect combo! They were all friggin fantastic though. And now all I want to do is make tons and tons of different kinds of s'mores...

...this doesn't bode well for my desire to lose weight probably...does it?

*shrug* Whatever. Make cookie dough s'mores. Your life will never be the same.

Coffee Cake in a Mug

I'm a morning person. I'll admit it. I'm that girl. In high school, I used to do the morning announcements and drive everyone crazy with my overly awake and perky voice. Sorry guys but...once I'm awake, I'm AWAKE. Even so....I tend to find myself dragging my feet when it comes to actually doing stuff in the morning. Particularly making food. Because I'm tired and hungry and I just wish food would magically appear in front of me, no effort required.

Now, while I don't have the magical ability to summon up an instantaneous, effort free, breakfast....this recipe comes pretty close.

You pretty much just combine some ingredients in your favorite mug (yes...I made mine in a Disney princess mug and yes...I made Michael one in a Batman mug. I enjoy this about us. I think it's charming. sooo...yeah...) then you microwave for a few minutes and...that's it. You have coffee cake.

CUHRAAAZY.

Now, on the real real...not my favorite. It was fine just...I dunno...I felt like the cake was a bit bland tasting. Not enough cinnamoooon! It was good though, especially considering it took like 5 minutes to make. I just prefer real coffee cake. 

That said-Michael really enjoyed it and didn't see anything wrong with this simple little breakfast. And just imagine how much fun something like this would be if you have a bunch of girls waking up after a slumber party at your house! Or if you partied hard last night and need a quick easy breakfast. You know...just depends on your current life situation.

Or you could just be like me, a perky little Disney princess, waking up, singing with the birds, and then being like "ughhh but...doin' stuff?" and then remembering, "Oh hey! I can have a little coffee cake in my belly like..practically right now!" and then you run to the kitchen.

...and to be honest..if this is me we're talking about...and I'm running to the kitchen...

...I probably trip.

Something Saturdays (11/23/13)

If you live in NYC...you know that these things are scuhrrrrryy.

LET THIS BE HAPPENING.

Um whoa....that lil nerdy kid from Full House and The Little Rascals grew up to be smokin' (and apparently gay?)-fascinating.

You may or may not know this about me but...I LOVE THE MUPPETS. So obv. I'm stoked about the trailer for the new movie: 

Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is less than a week away. Maybe you're looking for some ideas? Look no further, you've come to the right place! Here's a list of all the Thanksgiving worthy recipes that have found their way onto the blog, so far. (Yes...there are many potatoes.)

Sides
Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Kale
Crispy Parmesan Potato Puffs
Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
Baked Cheddar and Scallion Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Potato, Cheddar, and Scallion Waffles
Michael's Applesauce (in a crockpot)
Potato Cake
Perfectly Imperfect Mashed Potatoes
Pan Roasted Potatoes
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Gravy Cheese Fries Poutine
Stoemp (Mashed Potatoes with Leeks)
Spinach and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Smashed Potatoes
Scalloped Potato Leek Gratin
Roasted Skillet Potatoes
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Crock Pot Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Broccoli and Garlic
Homemade, Baked, Tater Tots

Breads
Whole Wheat Double Corn Cornbread
Roxana's Dinner Rolls
Soft 100% Whole Wheat Rolls
No Knead Dinner Rolls
Parmesan Breadsticks (Pizza Hut Copy Cat)
Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits
Fluffy, Buttery, Rolls (Texas Roadhouse Copy Cat)
Cheddar Biscuits

Desserts
Perfect, All Butter, Pie Crust
Mini Apple Pies
Pumpkin Pie with Whole Wheat Crust and Cinnamon Caramel Whipped Cream
French Silk Brownie Pie
Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding
Chocolate Truffle Tart
Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Pie
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Yoder's Peanut Butter Pie
Vanilla Honey Shortbread Pie
Nutella Crack Pie
Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
Nutella Lava Cakes
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Salted Caramel Sauce

I'll be making:

Fluffy, Buttery, Rolls

Michael's Applesauce

Some kind of mashed potatoes

Corn
A jar of cranberry jelly business for Michael

Turkey breast

aaaand...I dunno? Lol

What are you making for Thanksgiving this year?

Mashed Potato, Cheddar, and Scallion Waffles

Remember when I made those crock pot mashed potatoes and told you how it makes enough to feed an army? Well, I found myself with a new experience of having too many leftover mashed potatoes, when the fates aligned that Joy the Baker posted a recipe for mashed potato waffles. And, pretty much as soon as I saw it, I made them. And boy oh boy, am I glad I didn't wait!

Let me break this down for you: You take some mashed potatoes, some cheese, and some scallions (or chives) and you create a waffle batter. An extremely customize-able batter, I must say. Feel free to season and change out cheeses etc. to your preference. You wanna make some spicy potato waffles? Go right ahead! You want a more straightforward, buttery potato waffle? That's cool too! I used roasted garlic mashed potatoes in these, so I-for instance- omitted the original garlic powder from the recipe because...well...you get the idea.

I'm a simple gal, so I just at these cheesy, crispy, chewy, potato-y goodness bits of deliciousness by their onesies. But you can totally have some sour cream, salsa, etc. etc. to dip these in. Have a lil potato waffle party! Invite your friends. It's the cool new thing.

Pumpkin Pie with Whole Wheat Crust and Cinnamon Caramel Whipped Cream-Stahlbush Farms Review

Pumpkin pie is the first pie I can remember loving. Every Thanksgiving, without fail, my mom would make 2 pies and fill the whole house with that delicious, pumpkin-spice smell. And then I would have to wait, patiently*, for them to cool. My reward was a gorgeous slice of pie with a big dollop of Cool Whip that I would then proceed to scrape out of the crust (because I didn't like pie crust at that time...my theory on this is because I had yet to try a HOMEMADE pie crust at that point.) 

Now I'm grown up. And I made a grown up version of my beloved pumpkin pie.

*(not so patiently)

As a "grown up" I've really gotten into eating food from scratch: real, natural, and oft-times organic food. So when I was approached by Stahlbush Farms, I jumped at the chance to review some of their product.

"Stahlbush Island Farms is an environmentally friendly farm and food processor committed to sustainable agriculture and exceptional quality. Stahlbush has been family-owned since 1985."

Check out all the amazing products Stahlbush offers (plus the products from their Farmer's Market brand!) 

Stahlbush Farms sent me some super tasty frozen grapes to try AND-dun dun dun duuuun!- their Farmer's market brand Organic Pumpkin! And obviously I knew what I had to do: make a healthier pumpkin pie (after all, when dealing with an organic pumpkin puree with no additives, I couldn't ruin it with a bunch of other gunk). So I made a whole wheat pie crust, and topped it off with a just slightly sinful cinnamon caramel whipped cream. Mmmm yes.

I'm gonna be straight with you right now: when I was making this pie I felt like everything was going wrong. I had some issues with the pie crust being too sticky (I had to throw half of it out! Ugh, don't worry though-just follow the instructions below and you should be good. I've updated them so you hopefully won't have my problems) and THEN I was a big old idiot and poured the pie filling into the crust....before I'd mixed the evaporated milk in. *sigh* I only had a minor conniption, eased by the Michael playing "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls (he thought it might help calm me down, he was right). End of the day, everything turned out fine. I fixed all the problemos. And still ended up with a tasty tasty pie. 

Crisp, flaky, hearty pie crust. Creamy, dreamy, spiced to perfection pumpkin filling. And a sweet whipped cream with just a hint of spice on top. Oh little Kayle, you had no idea what heights pumpkin pie could reach.

Make this for Thanksgiving. Impress everyone. You're welcome.

Something Saturdays (11/16/13)

It was my birthday. It was pretty great. I got a mini muffin tin (courtesy of Michael's mom!)--as well as The Little Mermaid on DVD (thanks mom!), and a few other things (thanks everyone!) And thank you for all the birthday love!! Anyway I spent most of the day wandering around the city, collecting my birthday freebies: salty caramel cupcake from Sprinkles, Godiva chocolates, & a peanut butter chocolate swirl ice cream cone from Ben & Jerry's. I also got a $10 gift card to Williams Sonoma as a bonus with my muffin tin, which I used to buy a gorgeous new flour canister :D Then later, Michael got me some perty perty roses. Then we got dinner with my cousin Emily at RARE-where we each got a burger, and shared Parmesan Truffle Fries and Beer Battered Onion Rings. SO DELICIOUS! and we were sooo full.

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Stuffed Toffee Chip Cookies for #CookieWeek

Here it is, my last #cookieweek post (although it lasts until the end of tomorrow, so you still have time to enter the giveaway and get more awesome recipes from the other participants!)! Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen and Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic have joined together this week with 23 of their blog friends to present to you a week of cookie treats! We have every type of cookie you can think of listed this week, including something for our furry friends! Now is the time to bookmark these recipes for the upcoming holidays and cookie swaps or simply visit our Pinterest board! Make sure you enter the giveaway with some fabulous prizes from KitchenAid, King Arthur Flour, OXO, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar to help with your cookie making needs!

These cookies have been elevated in the pantheons to one of the all time best cookies that have ever graced my lips. But that's no surprise. I used one of my fave cookie bases (from these)-which has browned butter, used toffee chips, stuffed them with SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE, and sprinkled them with some more salt. Honestly...there's really no way to go wrong with these.

Now, like I said, there is caramel sauce stuffed inside these cookies. And caramel tends to ooze. So don't be alarmed if, when you pull the cookies out of the oven, you see some caramel has oozed out of them. That's totally ok. You can just use your spatula to mush it back to the edge of the cookie. Or leave it and just eat it as is. Yumminess either way.

These cookies are BIG.

They're crisp, yet chewy.

They have delicious bites of toffee, and ooey gooey salted caramel.

THEY ARE IRRESISTIBLE.

You're gonna love 'em.

Now check out all the other #CookieWeek recipes for today!:

• Bethmännchen cookies by Masala Herb
• Chewy Brigadeiro Pecan Bars by Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Cookie Thumbprints with Sweet Pepper Jelly by Omeletta
• Chocolate-Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies by i heart eating
• Earl Grey Icebox Cookies by Crumb
• Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Homemade Thin Mints by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies by Like Mother Like Daughter
• Miso Sesame Cookies by NinjaBaking.com
• Peppermint Cream Thumbprint Cookies by Beyond Frosting
• Salted Caramel Stuffed Toffee Chip Cookies by The Cooking Actress
• Sandwich Cookies by Texana's Kitchen
• Shortbread Christmas Mouse Cookies by Cravings of a Lunatic

And continue on past the recipe to enter the giveaway!

Deep Dish S'more {for my BIRTHDAY!} and a #DivineInNYC Review

Happy birthday to me....

happy birthday to me,

happy birthday to meee-eeeee

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Yay! It's my birthday! I LOVE my birthday!!

You know what else I love? CHOCOLATE.

Chocolate and my birthday go together like...well ya know...like stuff that goes together.

For my 21st birthday, I even gorged myself on chocolate as opposed to the general tradition of getting sick on alcohol instead. Best. birthday. EVER! So, imagine my excitement when the amazing people at Divine Chocolate agreed to send me some of their amazing chocolate to celebrate my special day (and oh yeah, on top of that, they're giving 3 of you wonderful readers a gift set too! So it's like everyone's birthday!! Continue reading past the recipe for the giveaway info.)

Up until now I hadn't had the opportunity to try Divine chocolate, although I have seen it in multiple stores in the city, (such as the one on 1066 Third Avenue, near my favorite Bed Bath and Beyond location--check out their store locator to find where YOU can get some Divine chocolate.), so I was STOKED to be sent such an amazing array of chocolatey goodness! Divine provided me with their baking line as well as their super festive holiday goodies! So far, everything has been just luscious-I cannot wait to try out everything!

AND, on top of delicious chocolate products, Divine also has an incredible story. Grown in Ghana, the cocoa beans used by Divine Chocolate are hand-harvested, slow-fermented and carefully dried by the family farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Cooperative, who co-own the company. While Fair Trade makes sure farmers get a better deal for their cocoa and some extra income to invest in their community, company ownership gives farmers a share of Divine’s profits and a stronger voice in the cocoa industry. HOW COOL is that??! 

For more info. about Divine Chocolate, visit www.divinechocolate.com/us. For news about competitions, deals, and more, sign up for the Divine Newsletter: http://www.divinechocolate.com/us/subscribe-our-newsletter. 

Now, on to what I DID with my chocolate. 

One of mine and Michael's fave spots to get some food in this city is Heartland Brewery and, at their Union Sq. location, they have a dessert they call "Ole Time S'mores" and I was SUPER into it. But, I don't get down there very often these days, and other locations don't seem to have that dessert. So, I thought to myself...why not just recreate it? And I did!

This deep dish s'more is, sort of, single serving. The perfect birthday dish means you don't have to share. First I made a nice thick, buttery, graham cracker crust. Then, the main component, a smooth, rich, thick chocolate ganache I made using half milk and half dark Divine chocolate (giving the perfect balance, methinks), and then a beautiful top of toasted marshmallows. Ahhh...definitely my kind of birthday dessert.

And it's pretty darned easy. Because nobody wants to spend all day slaving away on their birthday...

...then again...most people don't make their own birthday treat do they? I'm weird.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND MY WEIRDNESS! HOORAY FOR S'MORES AND CHOCOLATE AND KAYLE!!!

Loaded Oatmeal Coconut Cookies for #CookieWeek

It's #cookieweek my cookie monster friends! Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen and Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic have joined together this week with 23 of their blog friends to present to you a week of cookie treats! We have every type of cookie you can think of listed this week, including something for our furry friends! Now is the time to bookmark these recipes for the upcoming holidays and cookie swaps or simply visit our Pinterest board! Make sure you enter the giveaway with some fabulous prizes from KitchenAid, King Arthur Flour, OXO, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar to help with your cookie making needs!

Being Queen Cookie Monster...I think I have like insanely high standards for cookies.

Like...to kind of an insane degree.

Take these cookies: they're good cookies. Michael liked em just fine, there's nothing wrong with these cookies. BUT-I was so mad at them. Like "THESE COOKIES ARE SO MEDIOCRE. Like...anyone could have made them...ugh!" *and then she threw herself exasperatedly on the bed* (not really. but kinda)

Now that I've disclosed my not 100% happy feelings, let's discuss why that's probably not fair:

They are good cookies. They're easy. They're super customizable (go ahead and throw just about whatever you want in these babies). And they're just fun, crunchy, grab and go kinds of cookies. They also make enough to feed an army. Not a small one either, nope, a full on, full sized, army.* Plus I may have mixed some of that delectable caramel sauce up in 'em. Because life's short. Eat cookies.

*well...no. But it does make a lot.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwich Cookies for #CookieWeek

Oh hey. Did you know I love cookies? Oh you did? I'm not surprised. It's not a secret. 

I. LOVE. COOKIES! 

So, obviously, I'm gonna participate in an event called #cookieweek 

(especially when it's orchestrated by some of my best blog buds!)

Welcome to #cookieweek my fellow cookie monsters! Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen and Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic have joined together this week with 23 of their blog friends to present to you a week of cookie treats! We have every type of cookie you can think of listed this week, including something for our furry friends! Now is the time to bookmark these recipes for the upcoming holidays and cookie swaps or simply visit our Pinterest board! Make sure you enter the giveaway with some fabulous prizes from KitchenAid, King Arthur Flour, OXO, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar to help with your cookie making needs!

I had to kick off #cookieweek with a cookie OVERLOAD! You're pretty much getting 3 cookies in 1: 2 cookies, plus a filling of cookie dough. But these aren't just chocolate chip cookies or cookie dough, oh no, they're made with browned butter. And sea salt. AKA 2 of my most favoritest things to do to cookies.

Funny fact: these cookies are, in my opinion, best chilled. Which goes against most of my cookie preferences. But for whatever reason, the combo of cookies plus cookie dough just tastes better cold.

So, take a bite. A big bite. A bite that will cut through delectable cookies, a bite of sea salt, and a creamy, decadent, browned butter (eggless) cookie dough filling. It's like an experience. Possibly a healing one. I mean, I'm not saying these cookies will fix you but...ya know...I'm not saying they won't either.

Now, continue on past the recipe for an amazing #cookieweek GIVEAWAY and keep an eye out the rest of this week for more #cookieweek goodness!!

Something Saturdays (11/9/13)

Um...so...someone wrote an entire blog post devoted to me. That's kinda crazy and rad. And it mentions this little bloggy blog-awesomeness.

And it's almost as if THIS post was written about me. Because...I just relate so much.

As bad as 90's fashion was...let's not forget the nearly equally bad early 00's stuff. MEMORIIIES.

BUTTERFINGER PEANUT BUTTER CUPS ARE COMINGGG! (btw the chocodilla, or whatever, I'm pretty sure was already mostly invented by my old roommates.)

Kids.are.hilarious.

Oh! and, yes, BIG things happening this coming week!!! First of all, on Wednesday, IT'S MY BIRTHDAYYYY! Yayyy! I love my birthdayyyy! And, since I'm a nice lady, there'll be a giveaway! And 3 winners will be chosen! Hooray! AND, falling on the most perfect week ever since it's my birthday week, it's also #cookieweek YOU GUYS I LOVE COOKIES. (And oh yeah...more giveaways!) So we've got a lot of sweet yummy deliciousness coming your way. Stay tuned. And in the meantime check out our #CookieWeek Pinterest Board!

Crock Pot Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ugh....it's November. Which means I'm chilly. Like all the time. The only good thing about this time of year (aside from it being my birthday month and that we're getting closer to Christmas) is COMFORT FOOD. Food that warms ya up, inside out! Food that makes you feel full and happy. Food like mashed potatoes.

Plus, you gotta love a slow cooker in the fall. You just throw a bunch of stuff in and leave it alone for awhile. That's a full on win-win-win situation if you ask me! 

Funny story: I just got a filling a couple months ago (my first filling that I've needed in quite a few years) and it totally brought back memories of having my mom make me mashed potatoes to eat while my face was numb. I used to exclusively eat very thick instant mashed potatoes. Nowadays I'll eat some real potatoes. And if there's garlic involved, all the better. With or without my face being numb. :P

This recipe is like...really good, guys. Like...super duper tasty. You get a BIG batch (like...really big...like...it was difficult to finish off because there was so much. So it's perfect for big families or entertaining, etc.) of really creamy, really flavorful potatoes. I did have a problem getting all the chunks whipped up (but this seems to be a problem I always have...maybe it's my mixer?...or maybe I don't chop them up small enough...)--I definitely recommend cutting the potatoes into smaller pieces to make it easier on yourself later.

End of the day though...let's turn on some Netflix, curl up in our pj's with a big warm blanket, and dig into a big bowl of these potatoes. The perfect cure for my fall blues.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream (No Ice Cream Maker!)-Stef's Virtual Baby Shower

EEEEE!! OMG...you guys...Stef, from Sarcastic Cooking, is gonna have a BABY BOY!!

yayyy!!!

I'm baby obsessed (seriously ask anyone, I ADORE babies. If I see your photos of your baby on facebook or instagram...that just like...makes my day. I fully intend to have a bunch of little ones myself someday and I just love em!) and Stef obsessed, for that matter, so when Stephie (my girl from Eat Your Heart Out) asked if I wanted to join in on a virtual baby shower for Stef, I immediately said YES!

Food bloggers (or maybe just bloggers in general) are weird creatures. I know that.

Nobody outside understands. I tell them I'm a part of a virtual baby shower and they're like "...so...they don't actually get to eat the food you're making for them?" and I'm like "well...no...but it's in spirit...just..ya know...ugh you don't get it." It's a thing though, ok? Just trust it is our way of saying WE LOVE YOU to our bloggy buds!

This is Stef and her husband Mike's first child, and I am just so psyched for them. I honestly can't even imagine how overwhelming and exciting this time must be for them! Stef seems totally cool as a cucumber though, and I know she's gonna make an amazing mom. When trying to brainstorm ideas for what to make for this post, I asked Stephie for any ideas, if Stef was craving anything in particular, etc. etc. and she mostly just said she's been a pickle fiend. Which of course made me think of the old pregnant woman stereotype of pickles and ice cream. And I figured well...if she's gonna eat her pickles, she might as well enjoy some spectacular ice cream as well, right? So I asked Stephie if she thought Stef would like the idea of salted caramel ice cream to which she responded, and I quote, "That's gonna get a resounding YES YUM ALL THE CARAMEL ICE CREAM THINGS response from her, haha!" So...there ya have it.

And, BONUS, since I'm sure Stef is busy preparing to be a mom, and will be even busier BEING a mom, this ice cream recipe is the no ice cream maker method. Which is the super easy, super quick way of making ice cream that I am addicted to! 

And we all remember that amazing salted caramel sauce recipe I shared on Monday? Yeah this ice cream tastes exactly like that...but in ice cream form (although feel free to use any caramel sauce you like). So prepare for incredibly rich, delicious, salted-caramel-flavor-packed ice cream! 

(and um...sorry for the not so inspiring photos. This particular ice cream recipe turned out rather soft so it didn't make for the most attractive pictures. Still looks delicious though, right? Right.)

So Stefanie, CONGRATULATIONS on your pregnancy, and your soon to be new little baby boy! I hope that all of us telling you you're amazing makes you smile, and that you want to eat your computer screen. Because of all the deliciousness we've made for you. <3!!!

Salted Caramel Sauce

I don't even know who I am anymore. 

I don't like caramel. I don't hate it but it's like eh...

or so I thought.

Turns out I freaking love caramel--salted caramel specifically, and especially if it is THIS salted caramel sauce. Where all other caramel seemed blah and so-so, this caramel is an explosion of heavenly rich and buttery and CARAMELIZED flavor! It's like...I never really had caramel before. We're starting over, caramel and I, turning over a new leaf and beginning a bigger. better, more amazing relationship.

I was definitely intimidated by the idea of making homemade caramel sauce, but was pleasantly surprised by what an easy time I had making this recipe! For one thing--this is the simplest recipe for caramel I've ever seen in terms of ingredients (gotta love a short ingredient list full of real things...like sugar...cream...butter), and really, once you're in it you just need to stay by the caramel on the stove and don't leave it and don't look away from it. Just follow the directions and be attentive, and make sure you already have all your ingredients ready. And use a saucepan that is deep enough that it doesn't splatter and burn you. Those are pretty much the rules of thumb and you should be good (that said um...I may have just gotten lucky...and everyone says this is really tricky so if at first you don't succeed, don't be discouraged! Just keep on trying! Get back on that caramel horse!) It's totally worth any and all effort. I meant to take step by step photos for you guys but....well...I was nervous to stray from the stove. If I ever get the courage and take those photos I will put them on here, I swear!

Also, side note: in these photos the sauce looks pretty thin, and it was--it was still pretty fresh. It will definitely thicken up as it cools (especially if/when you refrigerate it) so do not be worried about that at all. I worried about it at first, I was all "Uh...what did I do wrong?" and then a day later I was like "Yay! I did nothing wrong!"

I've used this salted caramel sauce in tons of things already (which you will be seeing on here) and I cannot wait to use it in more stuff (that I had previously always dismissed because uh...I didn't like caramel...supposedly?)! Honestly though, guys, I have to tell you...

I just ate this stuff with a spoon/my finger. Because...holy cannoli it is good. And addictive. And just like...when you taste it...you make a sound. You know the kind of sound I mean. Like just...mmmm so good! You know how I feel about the addition of salt with the sweet and this is the perfect marriage of those flavors. HOWEVER-if you're a crazy person (jk no judgsies here) and don't want the salt up in your caramel, go ahead and omit it. But you shouldn't. You should use the salt. Preferably something awesome like fleur de sel that is delicate and dissolves instantly. Because then you just have smooth smooth caramel and sweet sweet, almost burnt, just PERFECT flavor.

You know you want it.

Something Saturdays (11/2/13)

Michael and I are currently watching every episode of Charmed (which I've seen all of already-although not all at once in a row like this-and Michael has only seen a couple episodes) and it is just making me so happy and nostalgic--some of my feelings are encompassed in this buzzfeed post.

Oh man...I'm gonna cry

Source

Posts from this week

Over EASY Eggs

Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Pie

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Recipes from the blog that I made this week
Crisp and Fluffy Whole Wheat Waffles

Pan Fried Zucchini (Michael said this was the best batch so far! woot!)

Garlic Cheese Bread (made using Epicurean Butter roasted garlic and herb butter and my recipe for ciabatta bread)

Recent links bookmarked (visit my Pinterest for more)
Easy One Pan Fettuccine Alfredo (no. 2 Pencil)
Mmmmmmmmm!

Movies/TV Talk (assume there'll be spoilers)
Once Upon A Time-Yay for Hook origin story. Yay for the moms contacting Henry. a big fat NOO to David/Charming being stuck in Neverland and to Hook kissing Emma! SHE LOVES NEAL AND HE'S ALIIVE AHHHH!

The Originals-plooot twist! That whole harvest/reaping business is intense. But HOORAY Elijah is back! And um...is there some sort of romantic tension between him and Hayley? Was that just me?

Supernatural-so...at first I couldn't tell if the Dorothy/Oz stuff was like a joke but no...that was for serious. And, once again, I adore Charlie/Felicia Day (and her utterly quotable lines, such as "Sorry about the nads, Dean." and "Ding dong bitches")

Parenthood-So happy Sarah finally came around. And Kristina is doing well. And Crosby and Jasmine are all mini-van-having happy. Sad about the marriage issues with Zeke and Millie and Joel and Julia.

The Vampire Diaries-so...ugh...ok...Katherine's a vampire again? Is that the deal? I like that they made Nadia her long lost daughter, that's pretty cool (even though she must not have become a vamp herself until after she'd procreated a bit considering ya know...eventually Isabel and then Elena had to descend from her)

Reign-NOW stuff is getting good.

Instagram Lately (a few highlights from this week on Instagram)

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Halloween is officially over. Which means lots and LOTS of leftover candy. Am I right?

When I was a little trick or treating Kayle (whether I was a brunette Barbie, the Queen of Hearts, I Dream of Jeannie, or whatever I was) I obviously played favorites with my candy. Any purely sugary candy (such as dots, smarties, etc.) were given to my mom and/or brother, Crunch bars also went to my brother (his fave). 

But if there was chocolate and peanut butter: THEY WERE MINE.

In particular....I would hoard my Reese's and Butterfingers as if I were Gollum and they were my preciouses.

I would legitimately have my Halloween bucket hidden under my bed with a large supply of these favorite candies, hopefully enough to last me until Christmas. Even as a young child...I was a planner. No OD'ing on candy in one night for me, oh no, I thought further ahead. I thought to myself, "What about future Kayle...Kayle 1 month from now....she might want herself some candies."

I was a considerate little lady.

But...now I'm like a grown up. And life is different. And I can no longer just hide candy under my bed. You may feel the same. And sometimes....we need to use up some of the candy (*gasp* I know! Children, cover your eyes!) But seriously....there is not better way to use up some of those delicious, peanut buttery, crunchy, Butterfingers than in these cookies. I got TONS of rave reviews for these babies, Michael even said they may be a new favorite. And who can blame him? We've got these puffy, chewy, peanut butter cookies with an awesome bit of texture from the quick oats, loaded with chunks of BUTTERFINGERS! Oh and they stay ridiculously soft for like...ever. Or at least for a long time. They seriously just keep getting better with age sooo....like...attempt to not eat them all right away.

Nobody better lay a finger of my Butterfinger...cookies.

If you need me, I'll be hiding any leftover cookies under my bed.

Old habits die hard.