Tuesday's Tips, Tricks and Tid-Bits ~ The Joys of Oil and Boiling Water

I'm not sure about you, but my days are still all screwy from last week.  Getting the 4th off was just fabulous, but I keep thinking that today should be Friday for some reason.  Too bad it's not.  Fridays are full of good things:  usually a trip to Longstreet Cafe for a bacon and egg biscuit, sushi date nights with the hubs, maybe ice cream afterwards.  Then Friday means Saturday is next, which means I sleep in late and then cook a scrumptious breakfast that probably takes quite a bit more effort than my weekday breakfasts.

Hhhmm all of these things seem to revolve around food.  Oddly enough I did not realize that until I typed it all out.

But alas today is not Friday.  It's only Tuesday.  Which means another edition of tips, tricks and tid-bits.    Aren't you excited???  Hopefully these posts are helpful to you....if they aren't PLEASE feel free to leave me a comment suggesting other topics.  Do you always have trouble with layer cakes?  Can't ever get your dough to rise properly?  Whatever it is, if I'm not covering it, just shout it out.  Or type it, rather I should say.  And if I don't have an answer to your question I'll find it.

Alright, back to today's tip:  Adding a bit of oil to your pot of boiling water.  Did you know that by adding just a bit of oil (just a drizzle) to your pot of boiling water you will prevent it from foaming over?  You know, you run to the other room for just a sec and come back to your pot boiling over with tons of foamy bubbles.  And then you have the resulting stain from the spillover to clean off your stovetop range.  Can you tell I've had quite my fair share of experiences with this?

Good news:  the oil will put a quick stop to that.  Yes, you can get your water up to a roaring bubble, but it won't ever foam up and over the side if there's oil in there.

I usually use olive oil, but canola or vegetable oil will work too.

Daily Green

Bonus Pro:  If it's pasta you're making in that pot of boiling water the oil will also keep your noodles from sticking together.  Two birds with one stone :)

PS: Please for the love of Pete add the oil to the water BEFORE heating it.  If 3rd grade science taught us anything it's that oil and water don't mix.  So you add some oil to that already boiling water and it's going to pop right back at you.  And by "pop" I mean explode.

Quick and Easy Puff Pastry Dough and Sweet Peach Tarts

Puff pastry is one of those things that, frankly, has always scared the bejesus out of me.  This type of pastry has many, many tiny layers and when it bakes, each of these layers puffs up so you can see each buttery plane.  Thus, the name.

I'm fairly comfortable making pie crust, pizza dough, biscuits and the like, but the thought of constructing all of these little layers kind of makes me want to sprint to the frozen foods section of the Publix up the street and just pay the $4 for a package of it.  

But on a recent Saturday I had some time on my hands and thought, why the heck not?  I didn't inform the hubby of my endeavor so that if flopped I wouldn't have anyone to explain it to anyone.

However the pastry turned out to be so much easier than I could have ever imagined.  No, really.  Yes, it takes a bit of time, but it took much less time and effort than I was expecting.  And boy was it worth it.  I've never had frozen puff pastry so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I will say that each of those buttery, flakey layers was just divine.  And I must admit that I certainly ate more of those said layers than I probably should have.  Whoops.

You can use this puff pastry for quite a variety of delicacies, but I chose top little squares of mine with fresh peaches, honey and brown sugar for a tart.  Yes please!

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Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more yummy dishes!

German Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Pecan Coconut Frosting

I normally do a links post at the end of every week, but since Wednesday was a holiday and I was MIA I'm deciding to do a recipe post.  That and I was super anxious/excited to share these amazing whoopie pies.

In recent years I've developed a slight love affair with German chocolate cake that's only gotten worse as time has passed.  For the longest time I kind of wanted to gag at the thought of coconut in frosting, but once I tried it there simply was no looking back.  I've never actually made a German chocolate cake myself, but have enjoyed more than my fair share of cake and cupcakes from bake shops.

And to be honest I've always been a little scared of trying to make this type of cake because it always looks like the frosting is so gooey that it might just slide right down the side of the cake.  Yikes!

But these whoopie pies solve that whole issue.  Just sandwich that frosting between two soft cake mix cookies ~ problem solved.  And my favorite thing is that these cookies are built around a boxed mix.  The cookies are quick and easy, which means I don't mind spending the extra bit of time on the frosting.

*Tip:  Pull the cookies out of the oven when they seem a little underdone...they will set up perfectly by the time they cool!

PS Make sure you use all the frosting for the whoopie pies....if you have any left over I can promise you it will somehow make its way from the spoon to your tummy.  Swear.

Sweet Potato Scones

I hope everyone had a great 4th!  I sure did.  Lots of good food.  LOTS of it.

The hubby's 27th birthday was Tuesday and we have celebrated with 3 birthday dinners and no less than 3 birthday cakes.  Yes, you read that right.  Three.  Two ice cream cakes and one caramel cake.  Sugar detox anyone??

These babies might help do the trick.  Well, minus the brown sugar glaze.  Okay, so maybe they won't do the trick.  But they are yummy.  And I guess you could reason that the sweet potato in them makes it a healthy option.  Maybe.

These scones were incredibly tasty, but I will admit they were incredibly frustrating to make.  My dough wasn't anywhere near firm enough so I had to keep adding more flour.  I almost didn't post these because of this, but everyone else who rated the recipe raved about it, so maybe it was something I did wrong.  I'm going to try them again sometime soon and see if they turn out better.  The taste was phenomenal, but I just had a hard time shaping the dough because of the texture.  The measurements for the original recipe were first given in grams, so maybe when they converted everything something got messed up.  I'll investigate and will be sure to post a follow up.

So if you make these know that you may need to add more flour.

Can we take a moment and talk about how I'd love to 

scoop up that little pool of glaze right there??

If you're looking for a healthier option you could always opt out of the brown sugar glaze.  But it's so yummy I wouldn't recommend it :)  Delish!!

Tuesday's Tips, Tricks and Tid-Bits ~ Cookie Troubleshooting

It's so incredibly easy for things to go wrong in the kitchen.  You measure in an extra 1/4 C flour because you don't properly level it off, you use baking powder instead of baking soda, you correctly use baking soda but it's not fresh, you didn't let your butter come to room temp.....the list could literally go on and on and on.

Baking really is nothing but a chemical reaction amongst ingredients to form your final product.  And I didn't exactly do too well in Chemistry 101 at UGA.  Let's just say it singlehandedly changed my mind about becoming a Pre-Pharmacy major.

You usually think of cookies as an easy option when it comes to desserts.  Or at least I do.  I mean, Pillsbury sells these things as break and bake and slice and bake and you always see 5 years olds baking them in the commercials.  So it can't be that hard to do these things from scratch, can it?  Well, usually not.  But even the most miniscule of common mistakes can result in a panicked trip to the local bakery for those cookies you promised to bring to the get together tonight because yours flat out flopped.

Below is a quick chart to help you with the trouble shooting.  The bad news is that by the time your cookies turn out like some of the ones below, you've already wasted part or all of a batch.  But the good news is that this handy dandy chart will help you know how to fix any issues you have in the future.

*The chart below is geared more towards chocolate chip cookies that call for the dough to be chilled, but I've still found it incredibly helpful when troubleshooting issues with other types of cookies.

Make sure to hop over to The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie for more details regarding that perfect cookie.  It's a phenomenal resource!

from The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

1.  This cookie is your default cookie by which to compare the rest.  It is the one that is considered to be the most "perfect".
2.  This dough was not chilled properly in the fridge and therefore spread more than it should.  You can tell that it's a little flatter than the rest.
3.  This dough contained too much flour.  The dough probably looked identical to the "right" dough, but the cookie turned out drier and denser and did not spread properly.
4.  This dough didn't have enough flour.  As opposed to cookie #3 it spread too much and cooked faster around the perimeter than it did in the middle.
5.  This dough was over-mixed, which is such a common mistake with cookies.  The texture and the color are off as a result.
6.  This dough was formed into too-small portions and therefore overcooked based on the recommended bake time.  Smaller portions are always fine, but just make sure you adjust the baking time accordingly.  Keep an eye on them! 
7.  Alternately, this dough was formed larger than the suggested portion size and therefore did not bake completely in the middle.  Again, make sure to adjust your baking times accordingly.
8.  This dough was baked in an oven with the temperature 25 degrees above where it should have been.  As a result the cookie baked too fast and turned out dry and overdone.
9.  On the other end of the spectrum, this dough was baked in an oven 25 degrees too cool. The cookie turned out flat and didn't set up properly.
10.  This dough was still frozen when baked.  Freezing baked goods is always fine, but make sure you let them sit at room temperature for 15-25 minutes before sticking them in the oven.  This allows them to thaw just a bit while still remaining chilled.


BONUS TIP FROM YOURS TRULY:  A cookie that is done in the oven will end up being overdone in the end.  The cookies are still so hot when you take them out of the oven that they continue to bake just a bit afterwards.  You want them slightly underdone when you take them out so that they are perfect by the time they set up and cool.

Vegan Sweet Potato Burger

Before you write this recipe off and don't even take a gander, let me say that I promise that vegan dishes can be yummy.  Swear.  I get that when you think "burger" you're thinking meat, be that beef, turkey or bison.  But this sweet potato burger was just divine in my humble opinion.  I even got the thumbs up from my meat-loving hubby too!

They are a bit frustrating to make because you're working with a much softer base that falls apart easily, but as long as you're not shy with the breadcrumbs (bring em on!), then they turn out great.  They still tend to fall apart as you eat them, but that's okay with me because they are so tasty that I was perfectly fine finishing my burger with a fork.  

You can top these burgers with anything you like, but I chose avocado and onion based on the suggestions from the original blog that posted this recipe.  Healthy Happy Life is linked up below in the recipe, so make sure to mosey on over and check them out if you're even remotely interested in other vegan dishes.

PS Can we just talk about how hot these past few days have been?  Yikes! I think I may use some leftover chocolate cookies I have to make a milkshake this afternoon....check back for the recipe!