Image from www.marisny.com/html/flavors/caramel.html

Speaking of Brownies . . . what about this variety?

For those into something a little spicier, smoky ancho and chipotle peppers give these brownies a little kick. www.marisny.com/html/flavors/heat.html

I don’t like to drink so much food colouring and don’t particularly like orange soda, so rather than drink it, I leave it in the fridge hoping someone else will dispose of it for me. However–no such luck. I feel bad just pouring it down the drain so I came up with the idea to use it in a recipe.

So, tada!!

Orange Soda Cupcakes

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar [I never thought about this before, but the soda has sugar in it too, so the cupcakes are sweeter than usual. I might try reducing the sugar to 3/4 cup if I made these again.]
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 1 cup orange soda
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix the first 4 ingredients together. [I use a whisk to get rid of any lumps.]
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg, then add oil, orange soda, and vanilla and stir.
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry mixture until blended. [Don't over mix.] Mixture will be fairly thin/pourable.
4. Pour or spoon into greased or paper-cup-lined muffin tins, about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 15-20 min. @ 350F.
6. Turn out of muffin tins to cool, being sure to put cupcakes bottom side down, since the tops can be sticky.
7. Frost as desired. I think a cream cheese frosting (even orange cream cheese frosting) would be really nice. Chocolate frosting would also work with the orange flavour.

So . . . not iced, and not very exciting looking. The batter was quite orange, but now that it's baked, the cupcakes are just a golden yellow inside and out.

Found this recipe and decided to adapt the adaptation for myself.

Roasted Garlic-and-Spinach White Pizza (Adapted from Rachael Ray)

• 12 unpeeled garlic cloves [I used what I had about 6 small ones--they were getting kind of old.]
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon water
• [Next time I might brush on some ranch dressing for extra creaminess.]
• prepared  pizza dough  (about 12 ounce) (I made mine with dried basil)
• 2 bacon slices, cut into pieces
• cremini mushrooms sauted in bacon grease
• 1/2 cooked chicken breast (or 1 thigh), cubed [season with salt, pepper, and chilli pepper to taste]
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (or as I did, fresh spinach torn up into small pieces)
• 3 ounces (about 3/4 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. On a sheet of foil, add garlic and drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil and water. Wrap foil around cloves and bake [on a baking sheet] until soft, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly – squeeze cloves from their skins and mash with remaining teaspoon of oil to make a paste.
3. Increase oven temperature to 400 F.
4. Place a skillet over medium heat and add bacon – cook, stirring often, until crisped, about 5 to 6 minutes. Scoop out bacon and place on a plate – reduce heat to low and add spinach into the skillet. Cook until warmed through, about 1 to 2 minutes – season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. [I used the bacon grease to saute the mushrooms and just put the spinach on the pizza raw--it was great this way too]. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll out dough to size of your pan. Spray a pizza [an with cooking spray and place dough on it stretching to cover evenly.
6. Spread dough with garlic paste and scatter evenly with the spinach.
7. Sprinkle with bacon, chicken, mushrooms, and mozzarella. Bake until cheese is brown and bubbling.
8. Let cool for 2-5 minutes and serve.

Unbaked White Pizza

Pics are a bit blurry–I blame my cell phone. . .

Unbaked White pizza

So my pizza isn’t really “white” white, but more white and green. But it sure tasted good.

Baked "White" Pizza

Mmmm. . . . cheese and bacon and . . .

And here are some pictures of the “original” pizza. I decided to add spinach to this one too.

"Regular" Tomato sauce pizza with spinach

Baked Tomato Pizza

Baked Tomato Close up Pizza

Baked Tomato Pizza

I feel productive.

Yay!!

That said, my fingers smell like roasted garlic from the “White” Pizza and I have been eyeing the Orange Soda Cupcakes for the umpteenth time . . . But so far I have resisted indulging again. Gotta to eat that pizza!

• Pan-fried salmon fillets with red onions and lemon juice, salt and pepper (onions got dark and crispy and were very good–salmon could have been cooked less *shrug*)

• Lemon zest and butter stirred through white rice

[topped with -->]

• Stir-fried fresh broccoli with red onion and lime juice (also 2 TB of some kind of chili pepper dip sort of thing I found in my freezer–added a little zip, but not really any spice)
  • The lime juice soaked into the “leaves” of the broccoli trees and into the red onion–a surprisingly delicious and fresh combination

Addictive!

What happens when you put sugar and chipotle chili pepper in a stovetop popper? I can’t hear you!!

Yummy!

Yes-yes-yes! Yummy happens. And when you add a dusting of dark cocoa on top?

More yummy!

SO . . . Good!!

This mix of flavours is something special. First you get the sweetness of the sugar, then the spice of the chipotle chili pepper, contrasting with the musky, nutty, wine-y, chocolatey-ness of the cocoa. SOO good!

I just discovered chipotle chili pepper powder in a local grocery store and I am  in love with it. Unlike the vinegary sharpness of cayenne pepper, the  smoky, roundness of chipotle is strong, but doesn’t bite.

And adding the cocoa? Well, the same grocery store also had a chiptole pepper-cocoa spice on the shelf. I got the “plain-stuff” figuring I could easily make my own mix up if I wanted.

This is the first time I’ve used this pairing and it is very very good. I recommend it–heartily!

Well, I guess copy and paste can be a curse as well as a blessing, since I now have to rewrite my post for this picture. (Not that it was very long, but now it will be . . . short(er). )
Anyhoo.

Last weekend I went to a bridal shower where they served this above dessert. Some kind of jello-based raspberry fluff–the things was it was topped with the most luscious raspberries. Now usually I’m not the biggest fan of raspberries (I like them and all, but they’re not my favourite fruit.)
BUT!!
These stood out–they were so juicy they couldn’t contain themselves.

Look at that one in the back . . . My mouth is watering just looking at the picture.

Nom, nom, nom. . . too bad you can’t eat these “bytes”.

In the words of the old song “It’s too darn hot” –to bake, of course. Summer is not the best time to turn on the oven, so when you’re expecting company, what better thing is there to do than to take those summer camp fire staples–marshmallows–and make a square which is a more adult twist (and still kid-friendly) on an old favourite.

Cranberry Almond Marshmallow Squares

Printable

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1 pkg (about 40) regular marshmallows or 5 cups miniature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

6 cups Post Selects™ Cranberry Almond Crunch Cereal  (a Whole Grain cereal–BONUS!)

1-1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (Optional: to your taste, of course)

PREPARATION

1. In a large microwave-safe bowl (I use a 8 cup glass measuring cup since it has a handle which doesn’t get hot and aids in the stirring process), heat margarine and marshmallows at HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes.
2. Stir in vanilla. Stir in cereal until well coated. Stir in chocolate chips (quickly so they melt as little as possible). Using lightly buttered spatula (or your buttered fingers), press into buttered 13 x 9″ pan.
3. Refrigerate until cool and set. Cut into bars with a sharp knife.

NOTES / HINTS

For chewier bars, use an extra cup of miniature marshmallows or about 8 extra regular marshmallows. These bars are a little chewier already because the cereal is a bit crunchier than crisp rice cereal.

I ran across this recipe when researching granita flavours earlier this summer and decided to do a trial. Yum!

Lavender Earl Grey Granita

Printable

• • 2 tsp dried lavender buds, culinary grade
  • 2 teabags Earl Grey tea or 2 TB looseleaf Earl Grey
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4-1/3 cup simple syrup (2:1 ratio) (or 1/4c. sugar dissolved in 1/4c. boiling water)

Boil 4 cups of water and pour over lavender and Earl Grey tea. Steep tea for 5-7 min. Add lemon juice and simple syrup (to taste). Strain out lavender buds and tea. Pour into ice cube trays (this batch filled three trays for me) and freeze. To use chop with a fork or use a blender or foodprocessor till fine. OR Pour into a glass or metal freezer-safe container. Freeze for 45-60 min. Whisk through with a fork or wire whisk to break up the ice crystals. Replace in freezer and repeat process until completely crystalized.

This recipe results in a granita with the green, floral notes of lavender and tea.

Care for a cuppa?

My next experiment with tea-based granita will be Vanilla Rooibos since I picked up some Vanilla Rooibos tea at my local grocery store.