A Celebration

Welcome to the first entry on my new site, ChefJoshuaBurgin.com! This site will be home to this blog and the my business, La Boulangerie de Burgin. Tonight's entry is all about celebrating this exciting occasion! How does one celebrate? A steak dinner, of course! "But, wait! You don't eat red meat, Josh!" I gave up red meat over a year ago, but allow myself one item of red meat a month, if I want it. I think this called for my monthly allowance!

Rachael and I went to Kroger to get some groceries and she declared that she wanted red meat... Since I never eat red meat, I never cook it. So, the thought of cooking a slab of red meat scared me. I gave in to her powers of persuasion and we went to the meat section. We both looked like lost puppies there, lol. We had no idea what to buy, so we ended up calling her parents to find out what is good. We chose a 1 lb sirloin cut of steak to cut in half and share. Since we were eating steak, we wanted some vegetables, too! We thought of just making some instant mashed potatoes with green beans, but we soon changed out mind. After we got the steak, we walked to the produce aisle and I mentioned that I had never cooked or eaten a baked potato... She was appalled and demanded we do it, so we bought a couple of potatoes, as well as a can of corns and peas.

At home, I began by preheating the oven to 350 and prepping my potatoes. To prep the potatoes, you wash them, dry, lightly spray with oil, lightly sprinkle with salt, and pierce randomly with a fork. Then you just place on the rack of oven, that's it. Very easy.

While it cooked, I made a rub for my steak out of olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme, and ginger. I then rubbed steak and let it sit for a little bit.

Once potatoes were almost done, I cooked steak on medium. I tried calling my mother, who did not answer, to find out correct temperature... So, I had to guess. It was the perfect temperature. The steak came out juicy, flavorful, and tender!

My mother would be so proud that I actually eat vegetables now, lol :p

Seriously, this was one of the best dinners I have made/eaten. Rachael loved it, too! Let me just make a statement here, eating a slab of red meat after not eating it for months is just awful on your stomach. However, I have to say it is worth it.

It has been a while since I updated you all on my garden! 

Our tomatoes and spinach was began to grow, but we are still waiting on garlic!

We planted a peony and surprise lily, so far the surprise lily is the only one growing. It only began a few days ago and is about 7 or 8 inches tall!

Herbs: Parsley and Oregano are growing, but mold killed the others. We are in the process of replanting them...

More plants: Today, Rachael bought seeds and a pot for sunflowers! We will plant them soon! Should be so pretty :D

Well, that is it for this edition! Next time, I will have either a nifty recipe or vlog for you! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Snap, Crackle, YUM!

Sorry for not blogging yesterday! I have started working out again and doing 65 minutes on the elliptical machine for the first two days wasn't the wisest of decisions. I am sore, lol. So, I am taking the night off to recover and blog! The entry is themed crunchy stuff! Panko bread crumbs, crispy pizza crust, and coconut! Aren't you excited? Let's get this going!

I was cooking dinner for myself the other night and couldn't think of anything of anything to eat except breakfast food. I didn't want boring ole' eggs and bacon, so I started of thinking of ways to mix it up. This month's Food Network Magazine has 50 pizza recipes and one of them just so happens to be Bacon & Egg Pizza! I was taken aback just a little, but was willing to try it. I started by making my dough and letting it rise. Once done, I tore off a small ball of dough, just enough for an individual pizza. I then rolled it out and topped with diced uncooked bacon. I put it on my pizza stone and cooked until bacon was done. Then, I cracked an egg right on top and stuck in the oven until set and topped with cheese. Once cheese melted, I seasoned with pepper and voila! Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Pizza! It was quite delicious! The crust was extra crispy, as well as the bacon, and the egg was still a smidge liquidly in the yolk- which was perfect! It is all the best parts of breakfast on one pizza! You so need to try this for your next "brinner" night!

Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Pizza - Yum!

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing through World Market, when I came across Panko breadcrumbs. What are Panko breadcrumbs? Ever eaten an crispy breaded asian dish and wondered how it got it's crunch? Panko breadcrumbs! They are super crispy and stay that way the whole time it cooks. a lot better than just flour! I have been looking for a reason to use them, and finally found it! I was cooking dinner for Rachael and I and she wanted a hamburger. We had chicken to use up, so I suggested a crispy chicken sandwich instead because we didn;t have hamburger buns! I took the chicken breast, dipped in an egg mixture, dredged in flour, dipped in egg mixture, and then rolled in Panko breadcrumbs. The two coatings makes sure the chicken is well-coated and crispy! There was seasoning in my flour, also. I then grilled in my skillet for a few minutes and topped with Meunster cheese. 

Mmmm!

We then topped with spinach, mustard, and toasted sourdough. 'Twas amazing!

This was also my one day of the month I ate potatoes! I <3 seasoned fries, as well as my chicken sandwich!

Now, for dessert... My mother has placed her order for her birthday cake already. She wants a Tiffany & Co. box shaped cake with coconut inside. I have never cooked with coconut and have had a bag in my cupboard for about 3 weeks. Today, I decided to use some. I started looking through recipes and found a great one for Chewy Coconut Cookies. You cream your butter(I use low-fat margarine), white sugar, and brown sugar. Then, you add an egg and vanilla. Once fluffy, add flour, baking soda, and salt. And the last ingredient is of course coconut. You mix it in, then drop on cookie sheets and bake! That is it. 

One of the easiest recipes I have ever used!

Here is the final product:

I hated coconut before trying this cookie. It has now changed my mind completely! 

Those cookies were delicious and low-fat, too! The recipe is definitely a keeper! I am taking the extra cookies to my co-workers/classmates tomorrow. :D

Exciting news of this blog:

I just received my promotional items for my business, La Boulangerie de Burgin! Here are some pictures:

My order book, which has blank pages for cake designs, as well as a notepad with my name and number!

Window cling with business info and my business cards!

Fridge magnets!

A car door magnet on Dorothy, my VW Passat!

I also received letterhead, pen, hat, and I think something else that I can't remember! I have quite a few pending orders, including weddings, birthdays, and one for a business! Hopefully, things we get finalized and I will actually be in business! Wish me luck!

That is it for this edition! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Orange You Glad You'll Save Some Money!

I am back in the swing of things and actually blogging every other day!


Sunday:
Let me begin this portion by letting you know that I was not the healthiest of eaters when I was a kid. My diet consisted of pizza, pizza, and pizza. Just ask my mother... Now that I am on my own and having lost 130 lbs of that pizza weight, I am forced to make healthier decisions. I have gradually been trying more fruits and vegetables, and today, I have peeled and eaten a fruit that has grossed me out for years because of the look of it: the ORANGE! Just looking at the inside, the texture looks disgusting... I am a texture person. Texture is the reason why I can't eat bananas- I tried. Looks aside, it was actually really good. I expected an overwhelming citrus flavor, but it was just sweet enough and smooth. The texture wasn't that bad either! 

Une orange!

Monday:

Mondays are usual Burrito nights for Rachael and I. Tonight, I wanted to mix it up a little... but how? HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS, that's how! My roommate and i hate corn tortillas, so that is why we use flour, just btw. The recipe I found was very simple to make and is DELICIOUS! Here is the recipe from Allrecipes.com:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

-Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

-Cut in shortening until crumbly, then add water and mix until dough forms.

-Knead on lightly-floured surface for a few minutes until smooth and elastic

-Cut dough into 8 pieces(8 inch tortillas) and roll into balls

-Roll balls into thin circles with rolling pin 

-Cook in a skillet on medium-high until done.

Here my visual journey through this recipe:

Here are the small dough balls

Rolling the dough out

Place tortilla dough in skillet on medium-high. NO OIL!

Perfect Tortilla!

You will never go back to store-bought tortillas!

If you make your own tortillas, it could save you up to 80%! They taste so good, I am sure that you will love them!

If you read my previous blog, you will know who Sweet Wise is. Well, they are hosting the 2nd Annual Tennessee Cake Festival in April! They will be having cake demonstrations by Michelle Bommarito(Food Network Challenge) and other fun stuff, including a cake decorating competition. There will be a professional and amateur division! I am considering entering the amateur competition... I don't expect to beat everyone out just yet, but I think it would just be an interesting experience! I am going to be making cakes like crazy in the next month, so we will see if I am up for the challenge!

Well, that is it for this edition! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

A Sign From Above

I finally found my camera, it was in the passenger seat in my VW Passat, lol. These past few days have been great and I have learned quite a bit! I tried some new cheese, drank some wine, tried new fruit, and learned so much about cake decorating! I know you are excited, lol, so let's get to business...

Thursday & Friday:
In preparation for the upcoming French party with CIA, I bought a new kind of cheese! It is called "Havarti." It is a soft white cheese and is FABULOUS! It was the hit of the party :p There was a lot of good food there! Everyone was to bring a cheese, meat, and fruit. I brought salami, apples, and my havarti. There was also gouda, limburger cheese, smoked gruyere, crackers, bruschetta, blueberries, chardonnay-marinated olives, and white wine! This was my first time with white wine and I was pleasantly surprised. I definitely prefer white over red! :D

Our party spread!

President White, haha, came up with a great combination at our party. You take a bistro cracker, lay a piece of havarti down, add a squirt of honey, then place blueberries on top. Sounds weird and not very appetizing, but it is really good! This was also my first time eating straight blueberries... My roommate has told me they taste like dirty water, but I disagree. They are really good! Here is the Presidential Cracker, lol:

Yum!

To finish our French meal, I had a Dove chocolate and I received a sign from God! Look at the message inside, you can't tell me this is a coincidence!

That is exactly what this blog is about!

Saturday:

What an exciting day it has been so far! I woke up this morning and headed to Nashville to Sweet Wise, which is a baking supplies store that also teaches classes. I signed up for a fondant class! I honestly wasn't expecting to learn so much, but I did! Kathy Gentry, owner of the business and teacher, taught us so many great tips and tricks! Want to moisten you layered scratch cake? Spritz with a simple sugar! Want to make your own gum paste? Add tylose powder to fondant!  Perhaps, though, the best part of the class was when Chef Gentry taught us her method for rolling out fondant! She used two sheets of this thick and flexible plastic, coats one side of each sheet with shortening, places fondant between greased sheets, and rolls out! The top sheet comes off, and the fondant sticks to the bottom sheet. With the bottom sheet, you can pick it up and the fondant stays to it! It is perfect for laying on the cake and is so much easier than rolling on a dusted counter and transferring by rolling pin! I will never go back to the old method! I will have to demonstrate this method for you all very soon! Here is my finished cake, which is my first fondant cake to not look like a shar-pei puppy in the back!

We also learned to make a bow from gum paste!

At the end of the class, we received a certificate! I am so happy that I was able to take this class. For all my readers in the Nashville area, and even Knoxville, visit their website and contact them to schedule a Fondant I class! I definitely go my money's worth and so much more! Their website is here. I will be heading back for more classes soon!

Honestly, if things keep going the way they are, I am attending culinary school after graduation and becoming a cake decorator. I absolutely love it!

I need a cold shower and cigarette now, lol! We have reached the end of this edition, so until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Set Another Place At The Table

I know this blog is a day late, but I wanted to wait until tonight because the last two things were for tonight's dinner! A good friend of mine, Mallory, came over for dinner. We had two French classes together and she was Homecoming Director this past Fall that I helped with! We no longer have a class together, so we finally found a time to catch up. Before we get to what I made for dinner, we have to cover Monday...

Monday:
Today, Rachael and I were craving some burritos, like we always do. I started prepping everything and noticed that we were out of refried beans! I was just going to buy some more at Wal*Mart, but then I though, "Why don't I just make some from my pinto beans?" So I did! I cooked my pinto beans and put them in my food processor to chop them up, seasoning them while the processor went. The looked and tasted like regular pinto beans, so I don't have a picture, lol. On to the exciting part of this blog!

To make up for the lack of pictures, I am providing my French Chocolate Cake recipe at the end of the blog!

Tuesday:
In preparation for Wednesday's dinner, I found an amazing recipe for a French Chocolate Cake. What is a French Chocolate Cake? It is almost like a dense fudge brownie-cake. It only contains about 1/4 cup of flour and is made like a Chiffon cake. I started by melting some chocolate, sugar, and butter. Once melted, I removed from heat and added vanilla. I separated my egg yolks and white, adding yolks to chocolate mixture and making the whites into stiff peaks. I then folded the whites into the chocolate mixture and baked. It is seriously one the best things I have ever baked... I made a simple chocolate sauce out of chocolate, milk, and sugar to go on top. Here is the final product:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Wednesday:

I got out of class at around 5 pm and rushed home to prepare dinner by 6, lol. I decided to do an Italian dish, specifically Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Shells with Vodka Sauce. Yum, right? I researched recipes for an entire day and came up empty-handed. I finally decided to just make up my own recipe, and I believe that was the best decision! I began by boiling water for my shells and cooking them to al dente. While they cooked, I added some olive oil and minced garlic to a skillet and cooking a few chicken tenderloins seasoned with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Once both were done, I drained my shells and shredded the chicken. To make the filling, I combined ricotta, parmesan, egg, pepper, chicken, and solid leftovers from pan(seasoning and garlic). I had Rachael spoon the mixture into the shells and cover them with vodka sauce. Then I topped it with mozzarella and cooked for 45 minutes! It was amazing and will definitely have to make it again. The shells and cake were a major hit :D Here are the shells:

There is parsley on the top, also! The bread is a French Baguette with Olive Oil and Garlic Salt.

That is it for this edition, but I promise I will blog again on Friday! Friday night, I will be at a French party with CIA(Culinary Interest Association of MTSU). We are all bringing a meat, cheese, and fruit to share and eating with baguettes and wine! How amazing is that? Pictures and details will be provided on Friday :D Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

French Chocolate Cake
5 oz Semi-sweet Chocolate
4 3/4 tbsp Margarine
1/4 c Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1/8 c Flour
3 Eggs, Seperated
Dash of Cream of Tartar
Dash of Salt

Grease a 6-inch springform pan, double recipe to use regular size! Preheat oven to 325.

Set aside 1 1/2 tbsp Sugar from the 1/4 cup. Place chocolate, remaining sugar, and margarine in sauce pan and melt over medium-low heat until chocolate is melted & sugar is dissolved. Once done, remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool for a few minutes.

Separate eggs and add yolks to chocolate, mixing in one yolk at a time until well mixed. Add flour and mix. In a clean bowl, place egg whites and beat until foamy(I suggest using a hand mixer with whisk attachment). Add cream of tartar and salt and beat until stiff peaks form. Then add remaining sugar and beat until stiff and glossy.

Mix 1/3 of egg whites into chocolate mixture and mix until well-blended. Then gently fold-in remaining egg whites. Don't over mix! You will still see some white, that is fine. Gently move to pan and tap sides to release air bubbles. Cake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool, and enjoy!

Getting Down To Business

I am so sorry for the delay, but things have been busy around here. I did manage to do my new thing everyday, though! This past week has been quite an experience culinary-wise and I am very excited to share my adventures with you. There is a lot to cover, so let's begin...

Wednesday:
Sarah the Sourdough Starter was finally ready for her trial run!  To start, I took the starter out of the fridge, mixed the alcohol back in, and let it come to room temperature. Once done, I prepped my Kitchenaid and mixed together my starter, yeast, flour, salt, sugar, and water. After my Kitchenaid kneaded the dough, I let it proof and cut it into two and shaped into loaves. I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and placed dough to proof some more. Once done, I spritzed the dough with water(it gives it an extra crispy crust), and made two deep slits. Then, I placed it into the oven until done! Here is the final result:

The bread is fabulous! I will never buy bread again!

On Thursday, I decided to try iced cookies. Looking at professionally done cookies, I though the just used fondant on them... Well, apparently it isn't, lol. I was talking to my fellow baking-enthusiast, Sarah, and was informed that it is actually royal icing. What is royal icing? It is confectioner's sugar, egg whites/meringue powder, and flavoring. I did my research and found an Alton Brown recipe and used that. You start my placing egg whites and vanilla flavoring in a box and mixing until frothy, then you add sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form... That is it! It is super shiny like meringue and dries hard and smooth, which is wonderful! Here is the icing in white:

Friday night, I made another batch of icing and colored it Tiffany Blue. My cookie design: Tiffany & Co. Boxes :D I bought a cookie cutter at hobby lobby that looked like a present and used it on my dough. The dough made about 60 of the cookies, lol. Once baked and cooled, I used a technique I found on another blog to ice my cookies. You pipe an outline of where you want the icing to go then you flood the inside with icing that has been diluted down and smooth with a toothpick. It sounds crazy, but it works wonderfully! Here are my cookies:

All that is missing is the diamond :p

On Friday, I also received my stamp that I ordered! Here it is on my box of cookies:

How awesome is that?

For Saturday, I was flipping through my Food Network magazine and started reading this "50 Pizza Recipes" booklet. I have been wanting to do Chicago pizza for a while now, so I used their dough recipe and did it. The recipe is super easy to make and it makes two pizzas(perfect for family game night or movie night). I will post the recipe at the end of this blog! I made the dough and used my small springform pan to cook in. I greased and coated my pan with cornmeal(gives it a crispier crust) and then placed my cheese and then put sauce on the top! If you are a traditional cheese on the top person, give this a try. The dough was absolutely the best thing ever, honestly. It was crispy on the outside and soft ad light on the inside... Oh goodness, try it. I used vodka sauce, also. Vodka sauce is lighter than traditional red sauce and it really let the dough shine through instead of overpowering it like red sauce does. Want to see what the best pizza ever looks like:

Hungry?

All last week, I have been prepping slowly for chicken noodle soup! I looked through a few recipes and could not find one that I liked, so I kind of just made my own as I went. Hardcore, I know. I will share the recipe in a later post, maybe even demonstrate how to make it! It turned out really well and I am very proud! I used freshly chopped carrots and potatoes, and left out celery(not a big fan). Here is my soup:

Yum!

Well, that is it for this edition! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Pizza Dough Recipe:

Whisk 3.5 cups flour and 1.5 tsp salt. Make a well and add 1 1/3 cup warm water, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 packet yeast. When foamy, mix in 3 tbsp olive oil; knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Brush with olive oil. cover in a bowl and let rise until doubled, about 90 minutes. Divide into two 1-pound balls. (My note: brush crust right before placing in oven with olive oil for more flavorful and brown crust!)

Transformation

Exciting news! New Day. New Way is now slowly tranferring over to a full vlog! Want to know what I did for today? Well, take a look for yourself:





It is Chocolate French Toast! The chocolate wasn't like BAM, like a candy bar. It was very relaxed and is perfect for breakfast or a late night snack! Also, each serving is only about 4 grams of fat! Can't beat that for a chocolate fix. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Egg

1/8 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Cup Milk

1/4 tsp Cinnamon (optional)

3 Slices of Bread 

Combine all ingredients, except the bread.

Heat lightly greased skillet to medium-low heat.

Dip bread slices in mixture and place in skillet, cook on each side for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Lightly top with confectioner's sugar and serve immediately!






For my other new adventure, I tried hummus. Hummus is essentially ground chickpeas and is eaten with pita chips and such. I have always wanted to try it and we finally bought some at the grocery store. It looks really funny, lol. The texture is a lot better than I thought, but I don't care much for the flavor. It might have been the hummus we bought because my roommate bout Roaster Red Pepper... I am not a huge fan of RRP, but I am eager to try other types of hummus! 

These are chickpeas, just incase you were wondering :p

I finally found a purpose for my "wedding" cake. One of the advisors that I work for came back today after being on leave for a while, so I brought it in to celebrate. The top two tiers were gone by the time I left to go tan, lol. I am glad people enjoyed it!


Oh, other exciting news! I ordered a stamp so that I could start advertising on my bakery boxes and such! Here it is:

I <3 it!

That is it for this edition! Keep checking back for more content soon! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Here Comes The... Chicken? ... All Dressed In... Orange?

I have to say, I believe I have found my passion. Which, as you can tell from this blog, is cooking/baking! It is just about the only thing in the world that I can do for 48 hours straight, and not complain, lol. This weekend, I started the biggest project thus far: Wedding Cake. The cake isn't for anyone, I just wanted to try it to work on my fondant skills, lol. Practice makes perfect! I started on Friday and worked from about 8 pm until 7 am, then picked up at 5 pm today and worked until 1 am. So for 19 hours of hard work, here is what I made:

My favorite wedding cakes are simple, yet elegant with ribbons on each tier... so that is what I made! Also, my favorite color is red, so that is why it is red and white. Friday night, I began by making my cake layers. There are four layers per tier, and it took six times the amount of cake batter, lol. All my batter is from scratch, just btw. :p Once I had baked all my layers, which took a huge chunk of time considering I had one pan per tier, I mixed up some vanilla buttercream icing and layered the tiers up. After the layers were done, I crumb-coated each tier and set them aside. The next step, and my favorite(sarcasm), is to roll out the fondant. I rolled out each tier, placed them on the tiers, and smoothed the fondant. I then added shimmer, made ribbons out of red fondant, and placed red flowers on top. Here is another pic:

Pretty good for third time with fondant and first time with tiers :D

Of course, all this work can make you hungry, so I made my favorite asian dish(which I had never made): Orange Chicken! I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and used it. It was pretty simple to make, but takes a while. It took about three hours total, so don't do it if you are hungry right then, lol. You make the sauce which is a mix of orange zest, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, water, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar. Then, you marinate your chicken in part of the sauce for a couple of hours in a cup of the sauce. Once marinated, you dredge the chicken and fry. After browned, you reduce the rest of the sauce and simmer with chicken! 

Here is the chicken as it simmers in the sauce :D

The final product, which was delicious! 

Exciting news! I have signed up for a cake decorating class! One of my classmates told me about the most amazing deal. It is only $35 for the class and I don't have to bring any of the supplies. :D It is scheduled for the 20th of this month. Oh, it is a fondant class, also! 

I was at target this week and I found this nifty little "Chef's Planning Kit." It has notepads for recipes, mean plans, shopping lists, quotes for chefs, and this awesome pin:

Haha, it is so me!

Well, that is it for this edition! I am still working on when I will be transforming this into a video blog, but I an hoping sometime this month!

Beans, Beans, They're Good For Your Heart...

Just a few short months ago, I discovered the magical word of beans! I had never eaten a bean until I went to Moe's and it was on my burrito, and now I am hooked! My roommate and I make a bean dip out of refried pinto beans, which is fabulous! Since I have discovered my joy of beans, I have wanted to try and make chili. Well, I finally did!

I have been planning this meal for about a week and a half now, lol. It has made me so nervous... I thought it was going to be hard, but it really wasn't! I called my mother for her recipe, as my entire family adores her chili. She walked me through the steps, multiple times, lol. To start my chili, I turned on my two-quart slow cooker on low. I then threw in a can of tomato soup, small can of tomato sauce, and a can of water into the cooker. I then placed a skillet on the stove on medium heat. I chopped a small onion and added ground turkey. I then seasoned with pepper, garlic salt, chili seasoning, and cayenne pepper. At the same time, I added chili seasoning to the tomato mix. Once the meat and onions were cooked, I added them to my sauce. To finish my chili off, I seasoned to taste and added my mother's secret ingredient! (Which I am not about to reveal :p) I did stray away a little from her recipe, she adds bits of tomatoes(I hate the texture). Also, I made my chili last night and then put it in the fridge. This morning I turned my cooker on low and let it cook while I was at school/work! Here is my chili as it cooks:

One cannot simply just eat a bowl of chili, of course. It must have the right toppings! The best and most common topping: CRACKERS! Well, while I was at the store, I forgot crackers, lol. As I was making chili, I began thinking about how much I didn't want to go to Wal*Mart after school to get some... That is when I received an amazing idea! I should make my own crackers! It is so simple and easy to do! I found a recipe today and made them before serving the chili. I will actually share this recipe, lol.

• 2 Cups A/P Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/3 c Olive Oil
• 2/3 c Warm Water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Lightly grease two cookie sheets
3. Mix together dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients. Mix until a smooth dough forms.
4. Divide dough into two equal parts and spread each into their own cookie sheet. Spread into a thin layer by hand or rolling pin.
5. Use a knife or pizza cutter and cut dough into squares.
6. Using an egg wash, an egg white and 2 tbsp of water, brush the squares.
7. Move pans to the oven and cook for 10 mins or until crispy.
8. Remove from oven and lightly salt

Here is the final result:

They are absolutely fabulous and stay crispier than store-bought!

Once the crackers are done, then you assemble everything! Chili + Cheese + Crackers + Sour Cream = Yum!

It was amazing!

My sourdough starter, Sarah, is doing amazingly well! She has started to produce alcohol, like whoa! It smells like beer in my kitchen, lol.  In a couple of days, I will be making sourdough bread :D

That is it for this edition! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Mmm... CARBS!

Sorry for not blogging last night, but I got caught up in my study abroad work. I finally finished my letter of intent in French! It turned out pretty well! :D Today, I met with the director of the program and turned in all my paperwork for the program and paid my deposit... I AM NOW A FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT :D How exciting! I leave for Caen in August and will be there until May!

This past weekend, Tennessee was hit by a freak snowstorm! Murfreesboro got four inches of snow! We never get anything more than a dusting when it "snows." In my previous blog, you saw the beginning of the storm and my solution for comfort food, egg drop soup and Hot Cocoa cupcakes! With the snow continuing to fall, I decided to make the whole weekend full of comfort foods. After my Hot Cocoa cupcakes, I decided to work on my layer cake skills. I did my research and found out that if you freeze your cake before icing and putting on fondant, it makes everything soooooo much easier. I started by making a sheet cake and using my nifty cookie cutter to cut awesome layers to practice with. Once cooled, I iced them together and froze them. Once rock hard, I took them out and crumb coated the cake and put on my fondant! SOOOOOO much easier this way and it kept the moisture! To further decorate my cake, I used my pasta press to make stripes! See pic:

How cute!

After my mini cakes, I wanted to test out another cupcake idea! Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes! Don't be turned off just by reading the name, they are FABULOUS! I started by making a basic chiffon cupcake recipe. I then cooled the cakes on a baking rack. Once cooled, I filled a piping bag with grape jelly and piped it into the center of each cupcake. After I filled all the cupcakes, I made my homemade peanut butter icing! OMG, it is seriously the best thing ever! It is essentially peanut butter, margarine, confectioner's sugar, and milk! Easiest frosting ever and it totally made the cupcakes. I piped the icing on the cakes and made peanuts out of fondant. Here are my cupcakes:

I took them to my co-workers and peers at MTSU and they were a hit!

Today, I was discussing my new found love of sourdough with one of the advisors I work for, Sarah. I was trying to think of something that I could do today and it came to me! I should make a sourdough starter! (You can't make sourdough properly without a starter!) A starter is essentially yeast, water, and flour :D You have to let the starter ferment a few days and then you can bake the most amazing sourdough! The starter can last for decades, too! I saw an episode of Paula Deen's where a woman had kept the same starter for 50 years(I think)! You just have to keep feeding it, almost like a pet, lol. Since I now have a pet, you have to name it, so I have named it Sarah the Sourdough Starter, lol! Here is a pic of my starter:

She is already bubbling :D

It is hard to believe it has been a whole month and a day since I started this adventure! I have learned so much and still have much more to learn! I leave you with a pic from my fun in the snow! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!