Banana Nut Roll

Over MLK weekend I decided to be super ambitious. I got out my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook (you know the one...it has the red and white plaid cover) and started flippng through it. I came across this picture...remembered I had an overripe banana...saw there was cream cheese icing and filling (yum) and made the decision to try out this fancy dessert for Josh and me.

The recipe was pretty complicated (in my opinion), and I knew I'd be trying a lot of new techniques and using some fun tools in the kitchen, so I was kinda nervous. Also, I realized I did not have the exact sized pan that the recipe called for. I had a pan that was smaller and a pan that was bigger...but not the one I needed...so I decided to go with the smaller one and my plan was to just not use all the batter. I was hoping all would still be ok...I knew I was taking a risk...but I went ahead anyways...

To start with...I had to seperate eggs. I started off using this 'egg seperator' but it was kinda weird and annoying, and so I really just used it to hold the egg after I initial cracked it open. Then, I'd dump the egg in my hand and let the whites fall through my fingers. I had to do this and then let them set for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Once the 30 minutes were just about up, I went ahead and greased and lined the baking sheet with waxed paper. I also made the cream cheese filling and spread (almost all of) it in the baking sheet. I premeasured the rest of my ingredients that I could (including mashing the banana) and got out the rest of the measurement cups I would need. I also combined the dry ingredients.

I got to use my Magic Bullet...but it didn't work as well as I thought it would. The recipe called for finely chopped walnuts to fold into the batter. I had walnuts, but they were coarsly chopped, so I had the grand idea of using my Magic Bullet to obtain the fine chop. However...first mistake...I definitely blended them TOO long, and it turned into kinda a paste. :-( Oh well. I guess next time I won't be lazy and I'll get out the cutting board and knife...leason learned.

So, then it was time to mix the egg yokes until "they turn a lemon yellow color and stream continuously from the beaters." Then I folded in the walnut (paste.)

Next, I had to beat the egg whites. I was really excited to do this for some reason...probably because I've seen it done so many times on FoodNetwork. So, I began. At one point near the beginning, they looked kinda "bubbly." And I had a horrible thought that some soap residue got into the whites while I was separating them (as I had just washed my hands). But, I just kept mixing, and eventually, they looked like what I'd seen on TV. Whew! After mixing in some powdered sugar, I waited for the stiff peaks to form.

Then, I had to first fold in the egg yoke mixture into the whites. Then, I had to fold in the dry ingredients. Finally, the cake batter was done! That was a lot of work...and my arm shoulder kind of hurt from holding that dang mixer for so long. I poured the batter onto the cream cheese...reserving some of it since my pan was smaller...and popped it into the oven.

THEN (See...isn't this complicated???)...while that was baking, I had to lay out a towel and sprinkle it with sifted powder sugar. Yay! I got to use my sifter for the first time! That was fun. I hope to be sifting more in my future, too. Ha! Ok, once the cake was done baking, I had to immediately flip it onto the towel and get ready to roll it. I was so proud of myself that I hadn't burned it!

The rolling was going just fine....better than I expected, AND THEN...I noticed something...something bad. The middle of the cake still had raw batter!!! So, instead of burning the cake...I didn't bake it long enough!!! The cake wasn't done! :*-( All my hard work, all my time in the kitchen, all for NOTHING...and it's not like I could just pop it back into the oven at this point.

So then...I'll be honest... I started crying. Josh hugged me. Then, I stopped crying because then I was just ticked off. I still hadn't even made the cream cheese icing yet...but had room temperature cream cheese sitting out. Josh...luckily...noticed that perhaps the middle wasn't done...BUT, it looked like the ends were done. So...there was a bit of hope for me. I'm glad Josh noticed that, because before he said that, was about 1.5 seconds from throwing the dumb cake roll in the trash.

Meanwhile, I had decided to use some of the extra batter to make some banana cake muffins. At this point, they were already in the oven...so I was just crossing my fingers that these would bake through. I left them in long enough! Yay, they baked through!

I decided to make the icing anyways since the muffins were a success, and I figured we could at least have a slice off of each end of the roll. So, the icing was made, the cupcakes were iced, and the ends were eaten right away with the icing drizzled over them. In the end, it was pretty tasty. Would I make this again? Well, if you asked me last week...I would have said no...but I'm not a quitter...so, yes, I do think I'd try it again...but not anytime soon...

Stay tuned for another guest post later this week!

Guest Post! :-) Chicken Parmesan

My co-workers and I all went on a retreat last week. We were split into three groups to prepare the meals for the retreat. My awesome colleagues, Lauren, Ben, and Rachel were in charge of our dinner, and they created an awesome meal for us! I hung out in the kitchen with them...happy to snap pictures and I even learned a few things along the way.


The anitpasta tray. Sadly, I did not try anything...but the rest of the staff sure loved it all! I learned what artichoke hearts were, and how all these nice items come in a jar and you can just dump them out and wa-lah! It was also served with some crusty bread and olive oil...I missed that picture...oops. Ok, I'm kind of regretting not trying anything now...but oh well...next time.

The breading of the chicken for the chicken parmesan. Take chicken, dip in flour, dip in beaten egg, dip in breadcrumbs mixed with grated parmesan cheese. Then, simply fry in the skillet! I can do that for sure! Although, I have to admit...I couldn't watch for long. They big pile of raw chicken totally grossed me out...yuck!

They (Trader Joe's I think) also sell pre-breaded eggplant parmesan. Nice! Here it is frying (cooking? heating through?). I missed this part and the kitchen was small so I was trying not to get in the way. I ran in and snapped this picture and left. The marinara sauce is warming next to it.

Topping the chicken with some marinara and shredded cheese, and back in the oven to get all melty and even more delicious. What's not love that's fried, breaded, and cheesy...mmm...mmm...mmm...

My plate. Doesn't it look delicious!?! Roasted squash with greenbeans and onion (yes, I ate all my veggies for once!). I think they blanched the green beans first, then tossed them with the squash and some red onion and olive oil before roasting. I also tried the eggplant (never had it before)...and it was...really good! No, I did not highlight the cooking of the pasta...even I know how to do that! This meal was VERY tasty! And, posting this reminds me...Josh loves chicken parmesan. Maybe I'll try this on my own this weekend!

Thanks for being a guest post and answering all my questions Lauren, Ben, and Rachel! :-)

Oh, and if you're wondondering what meal I was part of orgranizing...breakfast. Anthony, Sarah, TR and I were the "Breakfast Club." We did not go all out...I'm definitely not ready to cook for others...yet. I did learn about the "Shake-n-Pour" pancake mix though. And, we provided fresh blueberries and chocolate chips. But yeah, our theme was, "make-your-own." Pretty clever...I know. The "Breakfast Club" rocks!

And, I failed to take pictures of our scrumptious lunch from the "Lunch Bunch" of Tam, Jasmine, and Brett. Sorry! They had the same concept as us..."make your own." So we ate some delicious deli sandwiches, veggies and dip, and had some yummy soups, chips, and Oreos.

Homemade Frozen Yogurt

I also decided to use my ice-cream maker this weekend! Josh and I had used it once a long time ago...maybe in 2005 or 2006 and made some vailla ice-cream when some of our UNI friends were visiting..so I thought I'd give it a whirl again.

So, for it's second use, I made some chocolate frozen yogurt. It was SO easy to make, and the ingredients were minimal. To make the frozen yogurt...and I got to use my Magic Bullet to blend the ingredients. First I had to blend the milk and chocolate chips. (Yes, I have two cups because of the size of the recipe...).

Then, you simply add the vanilla yogurt and sugar and blend until smooth. Look at the Magic Blender go! I love the Magic Bullet!

Then, you simply pour the mixture into the ice-cream maker and turn on the machine. (The large bowl had been in the freezer all day.) It takes about 30 minutes to "freeze." The only negative is that the ice-cream maker is kind of loud...in my opinion.

I scooped out most of the frozen yogurt, and put it in a container to freeze a bit longer so it'd become a bit firmer for later eating. However, it didn't all quite fit into the container...so of course I had a bowl right away, too! It was yummy! I'll have to snack on the rest of it later this week I guess. It was fun making the frozen yogurt. I like it because you can see small specks of the chocolate all through the frozen yogurt.

Maybe next time I'll make some fruity sorbet!?! That sounds good, too!!!

Now I have lots of leftovers to eat, and I'll be gone basically from Thursday-Sunday of next week...so I probably won't be posting for awhile! I've been having fun with this blog...and I hope you've enjoyed reading!

Rachael Ray's Harvest Creamy Corn "Choup"

I had lots of FIRSTS this weekend in the kitchen! Read on...

Many of you know I've been a fan of Rachael Ray for quite some time...like since she first started her 30-Minute Meal show on FoodNetwork. And, as many of you know...I've never really had any desire to cook (and am making myself learn now). So, some 3+ years after watching -too many to count- Rachael Ray shows, I FINALLY attempted to make one of her recipes! It did help that my wonderful student staff gave me an autographed copy of her latest cookbook (How sweet are they?!)!

I decided I would try the Harvest Creamy Corn "Choup." I knew there was a lot of chopping of veggies...so started with that first. I hate chopping veggies...those chefs on FoodNetwork make it look SO easy...it takes me FOREVER! I know I'll get faster with practice...but right now...I just get impatient and my chopping gets messier and the pieces of veggies just get a bit larger to make it go faster for me (see the potatoes).

The recipe called for fresh herbs, so this was another FIRST for me...as I had never bought or cooked with fresh herbs until now. And yes, I had to go to FoodNetwork.com and look up the herbs so I knew what to buy at this store. Here you see the bay leaf and fresh thyme.

Here's all the veggies and herbs in the put before I added the liquid. Looks pretty tasty, huh?

While at the store buying the other ingredients I saw this cute little product of just 4 cresent rolls. It was so small! So, I decided to bake these up to eat with my meal. (Honestly, I mostly just bought them because it was so small and cute. :-) And, who doesn't like a cresent roll now and then?)

I also remembered the find the bay leaf at the end before serving. I was worried I wouldn't find it for some reason, so, once I found it towards the end, I stuck it to the side of the pot so I knew where it was. Can you see it sticking there...kind of in the upper middle of the picture?

And, I used my ladel for the FIRST time ever! I've had this since our wedding...and got to acutally use it tonight!

Here's the finished product...it was VERY tasty and flavorful...and something I would make again for sure. Oh, and in case you're wondering...this definitely took me LONGER than 30-minute...but mostly because of the chopping...and chopping...and chopping.

What will do if/when I make this next time?

1) Chop bacon into smaller pieces
2) Chop potatoes into smaller pieces

3) Add more corn

Oh, and I don't know how many times I've heard Rachael Ray suggest to her viewers to put their herbs in a storage baggie with a paper towel to keep the moisture off of them. I finally did this with the leftover parsely I had! And, now I have a lot of parsley...and I don't know when I'm going to use it...so, if you need fresh parsely...let me know!

Tuna Twist Casserole

So, tonight I suffered my first "semi-dissappointment" in the kitchen. I found a recipe in a Eating Light magazine. It was simple to make though, which is a plus. I altered it just a bit because I do not like peas, but I added diced mushrooms instead. (If you want the recipe...let me know.)

So, the recipe called for crushed corn flakes...I didn't have these, so I used bread crumbs instead...and that's where I think I went wrong. I should have used less bread crumbs (obviously the measurements for cornflakes are not equal to breadcrumbs) for sure. I thought it seemed like a lot as I was placing them on top of the casserole, but I just poured them all on. I definitely should have followed my instincts! They did not brown correctly and I didn't want to leave it in the oven forever. So, the texture of the final dish was kind of off.

How did it taste? Eh...this time I give it a 6 out of 10. Would I make it or eat it again? Well, I'm making myself eat the leftovers so I don't waste food...but honestly...probably...it was easy and pretty healthy...and if I fixed the topping, I think I would like it more.

My next plan is to try one of Rachael Ray's recipes. I received her newest cookbook from my student staff (aren't they awesome!?), and I have been going through it lately...so that post will be coming soon!