recipe: chocolate souffle lava cake

i've been wanting to make lava cakes for a while. with our lil prime rib/potato feast saturday night it seemed like a perfect occasion. we were so full after din we didn't even make them, so um... yeah it was kind of breakfast today. i had seen a few recipes inspired by Roy's Restaurant which is one of their must-have deserts, so it seemed like the best bet. i snagged the version from The Girl Who Ate Everything... i -attempted- to follow the instructions with the parchment-lined ramekins so i could remove and plate the cakes before serving... CLEARLY that attempt failed. if you make these, just eat them direct from the ramekin (unless you have a souffle mold or just do not suck a life like i do).

ingredients list (makes 2 small ramekins):
- 4 oz good quality semi-sweet dark chocolate
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks


to make: combine cornstarch and sugar in mixing bowl. in separate bowl, whisk together eggs and yolks. bring butter to a simmer in a small saucepan. add chocolate, and mix until smooth and fully combined, then continue to mix until the chocolate begins to simmer around the edges of the saucepan. pour chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix until combined. add eggs, and mix slowly until fully combined. refrigerate batter overnight. 


preheat oven to 400 degrees. grease insides of 2 ramekins, then add batter until each ramekin is 3/4 full. cook 21-23 minutes, until the tops are set but the insides are still jiggly & gooey. 
***
well - clearly structurally my place-on-a-plate transfer was a complete disaster (which was awesome timing after unsuccessfully poaching eggs this morning). but at least the flavor was awesome. SO good. i don't have a huge sweet tooth, so by the end of one of these my tummy was sooo sugary. i plan on making this again for v-day, but i think we'll just split one between the 2 of us, as that is more than enough (the beauty of ramekin-based sizing is that you can easily adjust the ingredients for 1 or 8 of these at a time). strawberries are also a must - there is so much ooey gooey chocolate it's kind of a perfect dip dip pairing. 0 for presentation, 9********* for flavor. i'll re-post a pic after i make this again. 

recipe: prime rib

mmmeat. i never used to be huge on prime rib (mostly b/c it just didn't look cute on a plate), but kyle is mildly obsessed with it so i've grown a much larger appreciation for it. it's a function over form cut of beef, if by function you mean delicious. 


to get the perfect cook method, look no further than seriouseats.com's How to Cook a Perfect Prime Rib food lab & recipe. they go low & slow, and it's hands down the best way to get the perfect medium rare. their article is so worth reading, i'm not re-posting the full recipe here. read it, love it. before you cook it, just make sure you inject the roast with a few cloves of garlic. only lil ditty it's missing. 

recipe: hasselback potatoes

last night we make a big din, and i needed a tater recipe to go with prime rib. i had tried making hasselback potatoes once before with blah results (the bottom was too crispy), but of all the pics on foodgawker.com the hasselbacks really seemed to pull me in (i wanted to avoid a heavy potato dish with cheese/cream/etc... just something that actually tasted like a potato in it's pure form).  

ingredients list (for 2):
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil (i used Mushroom & Sage flavored OO from Saratoga Olive Oil Co... love that stuff) + more for bottoms
- 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- dollop of sour cream (optional)


to make: preheat oven to 400 degrees. mix olive oil, parmesan, parsley, salt, & paprika in small bowl. make slits width-wise down the top of the potato, about 3-4 mm apart, but NOT going all the way down to the bottom of the potato - they should be about 1/4 inch from the bottom. brush the potato with the olive oil mixture, making sure you get some in between each slit (you may have to use a fork to carefully pry the slits back open). rub additional OO on bottom of the potatoes. bake for 40-45 minutes, brushing with olive oil every 15 minutes or so. 


in small microwave-safe bowl, add garlic & butter, and melt butter. pour garlic-butter mixture over the potatoes before the last 5 minutes of baking.
***
these came out a lot better than last time... flavor from the OO was awesome, and they were cooked just right (no hard burnt bottom this time). i wish that each layer opened a bit more and could come out golden crispy, but it's still yum... like a regular potato except consistent toppings rather than butter only on the top layer. 6.5******~.

Sri Siam Thai Restaurant

i've been patiently waiting for Sri Siam Thai to open for a while now... it's super-close to our house and has been teasing me with the "coming soon" signs for months. i -think- it just opened earlier this week - as soon as i saw the open sign it was go-time.

we didn't dine-in, although it seems very cute inside. we ordered some spring rolls, samosa, and pad thai to split, and loved all of it. the spring rolls/samosa were fried just right - they were not too greasy at all and were perfectly crisp. flavor was awesome (i had never had samosa before... delightful little chicken/potato concoction). everything seemed very fresh, great flavor, and when were done we were pleasantly full, not that oh-god-i-ate-too-much grease and sugar feeling from chinese.

we will def be returning... it's so conviently close i'm scared to see how often : ) the red curry is on tap next mmmm.

House of Tsang thai peanut sauce

every time i go to the grocery store lately, i end up leaving with a random bottle of thai sauce or dip or something. last time was the House of Tsang Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce. um... YUMMM. it's better than i expected it to be with the sweet peanut like you'd expect, but it has the perfect amount of zippy spice to it. umami! 


i made a few wraps out of it - some marinated chicken (soy sauce, honey, ginger, cumin & cayenne), lettuce, carrots, wonton noodles, and this sauce. served with a lil garlic cous cous awesome! definitely my new favorite dip for pretty much everything. 


reading about the new Chicken McBites today gave me a pretty bad nugget craving, and i'm tempted to cave and get some just so i can dip dip. 

junior's bar & grill

saturday night was try-a-new-burger-joint night, and we finally tried Junior's Bar & Grill, albany ny. Junior's is the casual kid brother restaurant to chic The Point(which is directly next door). The Point currently has the standing as my #1 favorite albany burger, so naturally i was beyond pumped to hit Junior's. we started with 2 orders of wings (the "moonshine" which are this yummy sweet & spicy honey-mustard concoction & some hot)... they were huge, saucy, juicy, perfect. for burgers kyle & i did the two burger split - i ordered the One-Eyed Willie (fried onion strips, bacon, cheddar & fried egg, & kyle got the California Chase (lettuce, deep fried pickles, bacon, monte jack, onion rings, russian dressing, side of guac). all ordered medium rare.

the burgers were HUGE (1/2 lb patties), served on kaiser buns. for the size, i was expecting a very juicy burger, but even though the meat was very fresh & tasty it didn't have a lot of juice to it. it was served a solid medium as there was no pink in the middle, which may in part factor into the minimal juice aspect. with that, the kaiser bun was a little bit of overkill since i didn't need that bready a bun to combat the burger juices. the fried egg had no liquid to it, which i prefer when egging a burger b/c that runny yolk is the bessst when it drips down into all the juicy burger fun. i'm focusing on the negative though - the meat & the toppings were all fantastic, and i think if this was cooked right it is still a very good contender on the albany burger list. separately, the fries it came with were awesome. i'd pop it a 6 ******. i would try it again, it had a great atmosphere (and good bar food variety on the menu), but if i need a king-of-all-burgers i'll spend a few bucks more and go across the street to the Point.

recipe: chicken mole ole

this was din last night, inspired by the delicious Lindt Chili Chocolate Bar i've been snacking on in my car (car chocolate - one of the many perks of winter). the recipe i used was from Show Food Chef, just removing the dried cherries (reminds me of raisins in stuff... no thanks). make sure you read the verdict after the recipe before trying this one... 

ingredients list:
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 cups tomato sauce or seasoned tomatoes (i used Hunts Fire Roasted Diced)
- 1 cup water or chicken stock
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (canned), chopped
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 large chicken breasts


to make: add all ingredients except the chicken in a slow cooker and stir until fully combined. add chicken, and cook on low for 5-6 hours.


when done, use 2 forks to shred the chicken and blend into the sauce. serve on buns, tortillas, or over rice. 
***
verdict: didn't love this. it has a ton of yummy ingredients, but somehow when they are all together they all compliment each other too well to the point that it becomes one flat flavor. all i tasted was smokey adobo, and realized i don't think i really like adobo that much. kyle felt the same. it's not insult to the author of the orig recipe, just personal taste preference that i won't be making it again. 3***. if you do like adobo-ish stuff, you'll probably love this.

recipe: chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

decided to make some cupcakes last night for work today... if i'm eating poorly in the new year, everyone should eat poorly in the new year (or eating fantastically, however you want to look at it).  i had made this peanut butter frosting from Brown Eyed Baker before when i made peanut butter ice cream cupcakes and LOVED it. so creamy, light (tasting : ) , and perfectly peanut buttery and sweet. i didn't have a go-to chocolate cupcake base recipe, but after i lot of time trying to find a PLAIN chocolate cupcake recipe saw a solid one at Bakerella. 

ingredients list (for 12 cupcakes): 

cake: 

- half of (18.5) pkg dark chocolate cake mix

- half of (3.4) pkg instant chocolate pudding

- 1/2 cup sour cream

- 1/4 cup warm water

- half of 1/3 cup vegetable oil (i don't know what half of 1/3 equates to...!)

- 2 eggs

- 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

icing:

- 1 cup confectioners' sugar

- 1 cup creamy peanut butter

- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

- 1/3 cup heavy cream

to make cakes: preheat oven to 350 degrees. prep cupcake pan with baking cups. in large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips and mix 2 minutes on medium speed, then 3 minutes on medium-high. stir in chocolate chips. spoon into cupcakes pans, then bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

to make icing: place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla & salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. mix on medium-low speed until creamy, then add in the cream and beat on high speed until mixture is light & creamy. 

ice the cakes & decorate them up.

***

LOOOVE these. i dropped a mini reeses PB cup into the middle of the cupcake batter for an extra hit of PB. the cupcakes themselves tasted like gigantic peanut butter cups. they are so messy to eat (i had PB on my nose, mouth, and chin), but that makes it all the better. these weren't my cutest cupcakes (i put the wrong tip on the icing bag and couldn't get a handle on it), but they tasted yum so it's OK. 8.5********~. 

taste

duck

friday night we hit Taste, albany ny. it's been on my hit list for a while and was def worth the visit. we had two small appetizers (most have small or large app sizes) - one being the braised bison short rib ravioli with truffle foam, the second grilled scallops and pork belly with a gingered carrot puree and cider glaze. um... yum. i was most excited about the pork belly but i think i liked the scallops even more... nice crisp grilled finish and seriously the yummiest sauce ever (and i'm not a big scallop eater...texture issues and have never had a scallop i loved).


for din dins i ordered the espresso spiced rougie duck breast which was served with a burnt orange sauce, cherry balsamic glaze, and wild rice. this was the best duck i've ever had, period. not gamey, not greasy. just tender thin sliced meat in the yummiest sauce ever.  kyle had the kobe meatloaf with pineapple bbq sauce and yukon gold smashed potatoes which he really liked. all the plates had cute/cute presentation, and the i left perfectly full but not feeling gross stuffed. 

meatloaf

my only complaint about the overall experience was the service... the waiter was attentive and did all the by-the-book things he should have, but it wasn't what you'd expect of this formal a restaurant (we were missing 1 bread plate... since no one was ever within eye sight we ended up switching plates back & forth for the bread (which was delicious btw... 3 options for spreads, one being an amazing citrus aioli). i finished my first glass of wine and didn't see the waiter for a good 10 minutes after until our entrees were served... he dropped the plates & tried to run off so fast i had to call him to get another glass with dinner). so... not the WORST, but not the "damn he's good" impression by any means.) still had a great time, and the food was fantastic, def go back.

recipe: steak fajitas with cilantro lime pesto

din din last night, which was a montage of a few recipes. Jalapeno Steak Marinade from allrecipes.com, and Cilantro Almond Pesto from Cooking Light (i had had the pesto over a friend's house and loooved it... it's yum on meat or veggies. NOM)

marinade ingredient list (for 1 lb steak):

- 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed

- 4 cloves garlic, peeled

- 1.5 tsp black pepper

- 1 tbsp coarse salt

- 1/4 cup lime juice

- 1 tbsp dried oregano

pesto ingredient list:

- 3/4 cup fresh cilantro

- 2 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

- 1 tbsp jalapeño pepper,chopped & seeded 

- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 3 tbsp plain yogurt

- 1.5 tsp lime juice

fajita ingredient list (for 2):

- 1 lb marinated steak (i used london broil, flank would be best)

- 1/2 green pepper, sliced into thin strips

- 1/2 onion, sliced into thin strips

- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

- fajita fixins - diced tomato, green onion, whatever you prefer

- cilantro lime pesto

to make:
marinade: combine jalapeno, garlic, pepper, salt, lime juice, and oregano in a blender, and blend until smooth. place steak in a large zip lock with the marinade, and leave in the fridge 8 hours or overnight.


pesto: combine cilantro, almonds, jalapeno, salt, pepper, and garlic in a blender, and blend until finely chopped. add yogurt & lime juice, and process until smooth. 


fajitas: slice steak into thin strips. 


saute pepper & onion in olive oil large skillet over medium heat until they start to brown but are still firm. remove from pan and set aside. turn heat up to medium-high, and a touch more olive oil, and add steak, cooking for a few minutes per side until desired doneness (i probably did 2-3 minutes per side for medium rare). return onion & peppers to pan, then serve meat/veggie mixture in warmed tortillas, adding cheese, fixins, and a few dollops of the pesto.
***
love the idea of this - love a good steak, love this pesto, love fajitas. BUT. i bought cruddy tortillas. if there is anything more disappointing, it's buying a tortilla shell that cracks and falls apart the second you bend it. we usually but Mission large tortillas, this time i bought the minis and the texture was totally off. it set a spiral of misery into dinner and the rest of the night that just couldn't be repaired. so. as-is, this was a 4**** (thumbs up on the filling, total 7, but a 0 on the tortilla). if it was done right, it would have been bangin. BE CAREFUL out there when tortilla shopping!!! 

recipe: honey mustard chicken pot pie

i had this Chicken Honey Mustard Pie saved in my allrecipes.com folder forever... i was poking around the folder last night & it seemed like a good lil din for the chicken boobs i had taken out. i pre-chopped the veggies last night and prepped the ramekins during my lunch break today, so it was a quick-fix for din (modified a lil bit from the original).

ingredients list (for 4 servings):

- 4 pillsbury garlic & butter cresent rolls

- 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

- 1/4 cup soy sauce

- 1/4 cup onion, diced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

- 1 cup chicken broth

- 1/2 cup julienned carrots

- 1/2 cup celery, chopped

- 3.5 tbsp honey

- 1.5 tbsp dijon mustard

- 1 tsp dried parsley

- salt to taste

- black pepper to taste

- 2 tbsp cornstarch

to make: mix soy sauce and chicken, and set aside. lightly grease 4 ramekins, and set aside (you could also put this in a pie dish w/ pie crust if you want a full sized pie... i prefer the minis).

preheat oven to 350 degrees. saute onion, garlic, potato, and celery in olive oil over medium heat until soft but not yet brown. turn heat to medium-high, and add chicken, sauting until chicken is cooked through. stir in chicken broth, carrots, honey, mustard, parsley, salt, and pepper. mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry and add to the pan. cook until the sauce has thickened to a gravy-like consistency, stirring frequently and adding more cornstarch if needed.

pour mixture into the ramekins, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes. after 30 minutes, remove foil, and cover each ramekin with a sheet of the cresent dough, slicing little vents in the top of the dough for heat to escape. return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until toasty. allow to cool before serving as these lil B's are HOT.

***

YUMMMZ. like a lil mini dose of comfort food. i love the idea of pot pies but never eat them b/c i really hate the veggies in them (peas, green beans, high doses of carrots, massive celery)... this was a perfect hit for a green veggie hater (yes, i understand i can also MAKE pot pie w/o the green veggies, but i've just never -happened- upon one with out it). 7*******.

recipe: general tso's chicken

so after a lunch of a traditional italian pizza, it only seemed appropriate to cook up some chinese food. day 2 of 2012... apparently 2012 will not be the year for healthy eats, but a year to get my lady assets to grow back haha. i adopted the recipe off of Tracy's Culinary Adventures - i didn't research tso's recipes much, but hers was the prettiest picture on foodgawker.com so that's what we went with.

ingredients list:

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce

- 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

- 3 tbsp ketchup

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp chili oil

- 1.5 tsp Sriracha

- 1/2 cup water

- dried chili peppers (i used about 5)

- 1/4 cup cornstarch

- 1 tsp cayenne pepper

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

- 1/4 cup vegetable oil

- 1/4 cup green onions, chopped

- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

to make: mix together the first 9 ingredients (through the dried chili peppers) and set aside.

 

in a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, garlic powder, and cayenne. dredge chicken in the cornstarch mixture. heat vegetable oil in large skillet, and saute chicken until golden brown. remove chicken from pan and set aside. drain the oil from the pan, reserving 1 tbsp.

 

fry the ginger in the reserved oil for about 1 minute, then pour in the sauce mixture. bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for about 3-4 minutes, until the sauce starts to thicken. add the chicken back to the skillet and cook until the sauce starts to get nice and syrupy. sprinkle on the green onions before serving.

***

loved this! the only thing it was missing as compared to chinese take out was the very thick fried coating since this was pan-fried, but with a little egg dip action that could be adjusted. the flavor was great, and it had juuust enough heat to it. with a lil jasmine rice it was a perfect din. 7*******.

recipe: sausage and pepper pizza

today's lunch, impromptu pizza party.

ingredients list:
- 1 recipe for pizza dough or fresh store-bought (i use store bought)
- 1 & 1/2 cups red sauce (i used homemade meat sauce that i had leftover, recipe below)
- 1 & 1/2 cups mozz cheese, shredded
- 2 hot sausages, sliced into small chunks
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 1/3 onion, diced
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 tsp oregano
- 3 tbsp olive oil, separated
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp parsley
- pinch salt

meat sauce ingredient list (full recipe):

- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage

- 3/4 pound lean ground beef

- 1/2 cup onion, minced

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

- 2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

- 2 (6.5 oz) cans canned tomato sauce

- 1/2 cup water or red wine

- 2 tbsp white sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

- 1 tsp Italian seasoning

- 1 tbsp salt

- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

- 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

to make sauce: brown sausage, ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until well browned. add to slow cooker along with crush tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, italian seasoning, 1 tbsp salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp parsley. simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

to make pizza: mix 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and parsley in small bowl and set aside. heat a large skillet on medium-high heat, and preheat the oven (with pizza stone in the oven also) to 450 degrees. sautee sausage in 1 tbsp olive oil  in the hot skillet for about 5-7 minutes, adding pepper & onion for the last 3-4 minutes, then set aside. roll out pizza dough on lightly floured surface. lightly flour the hot pizza stone, then carefully transfer the dough to the stone. spread meat sauce onto the dough, then pile on first some cheese, the meat & veggies, more cheese, and a few dashes of oregano & crushed red pepper. bake in preheated oven for about 14-16 minutes, removing it at the 10 minute mark to brush the crush with the garlic olive oil mixture. allow to cool at least 5 minutes before serving (i always burn my mouth when i make pizza)
***
yummmz. i love anything that has this sauce in it, so this pizza was the tits. we usually brush the olive oil onto the crust before baking it, but waiting until 10 minutes into the baking process made for a softer crust... it was like a delicious lil bread stick at the end of each piece. so perfect. 7.5*******~.

recipe: baked buffalo chicken bites

i've been meaning to make these little buggers for a while but hadn't gotten around to it... since i had cream cheese and green onion in stock it seemed as good a time as any to give them a whirl. i had found this recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen on foodgawker.com - Sweet Pea had taken the recipe from Pennies on a Platter who took it from from Macaroni and Cheesecake who took it from Made by Melissa who adopted it from foodnetwork.com. behold the beauty of internet eats, and how i end up wasting hours of my day popping around recipe sites. anywho...   

ingredients list:
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup hot sauce, depending on preference
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 & 3/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 2-3 cups corn flakes, crushed

to make: preheat oven to 350 degrees. line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. in a large bowl, combine chicken, cream cheese, hot sauce, cheddar cheese, and green onions.

roll spoonfulls of mixture into 1.5 inch balls and place onto a plate. get 3 shallow bowls - in one, combine flour, garlic powder, and pepper. in the second, add eggs and beat slightly. in the third, add the corn flakes.

dip each ball into first the flour mixture, then the eggs, then the corn flakes. place onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. serve with ranch or bleu cheese dressing for dip dips.
***
verdict... really liked these, buuut thought they had too much hot sauce - they weren't too spicy, but they were too saucy. i don't mind a ton of sauce when i'm eating wings, but somehow that's diff w/ the fried factor in it. next time i might jack up the cream cheese a little... other than that though, fun snack! i would make them tinier next time so they are poppable in one bite (i did like 2-2.5 inch balls). rating... 5.5 *****~ 

organic lucky charms

odd find it Target today... the most notorious sugar-jacked fatty fat cereal has an all-natural fresh made cousin ("Moms Best Naturals" is the brand... i have no idea). no preservatives, chemicals... any of that nonesense. even the marshmallows are fresh made. 

i usually eat fairly healthy cereal for breakfast b/c i'm too tired to recognize what i'm eating anyway (plain cheerios, cinnamon life, or frosted mini-wheats... the last 2 are a bit sugarly but they have whole grains so somehow that makes it OK). i usually AVOID the overly organic natural cereals (kashi, etc), b/c they taste like cardboard sprinkled with sand and some overtly too-strong tasting wierd grain i can't get past. since these were a "bad" cereal but had the same calorie/fat stats as the Life cereal, might as well give it a go.

anyway... these lucky charms... actually GD delicious. you would expect them to be like the "baked" potatoe chip compared to a "real" potatoe chip... still OK, but will never be the same. not the case - they are just ON point. if you had a tot that liked lucky charms, they would not miss them next to these. dunno how the company did it, but i tip my hat to it. and will be buying their cinnamon toast crunch version next trip.

recipe: rainbow jello shots

blueberry - raspberry - orange

i saw 5-color rainbow jello shots on i -think- foodgawker.com, and they were one of the most amazing things i'd ever seen in my life. i could only find shot-glass sized clear cups so only had enough space for 3 colors, but i think that's fine b/c the more colors = the more time it takes to make (i'm a little lazy lately, sorry). with 3 boxes of jello i made 45-48 lil shots.

to make: follow instructions on jello box 1... instead of using the 1 cup of cold water in the recipe, use 1 cup of COLD vodka (i used Svedka. this 1 cup of vodka nets out to a 50/50 mix of water/vodka since the jello powder is stirred into 1 cup of hot water. any more vodka = issues getting the jello to gel (jell?), so this is about the ideal ratio. the scientific rational behind that can be found here.) after you fill the first layer into the cups, refrigerate overnight then repeat layer 2 the next day, etc until you have all layers in. boom, adorable!

recipe: bacon chocolate chip cookies

i saw bacon choc chip cookies on a few diff cooking blogs... my gut instinct was GROSS until i thought about it for a few seconds... and thought genious YUM. seemed like a good quick/easy recipe for New Years Eve. i used the original Nestle Toll House cookie recipe as the base, which makes about 60 cookies.

ingredients list:
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar + additional for bacon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp mable syrup
- 3/4 (12 oz) package chocolate chips
- 7 pieces bacon, divided (note: i used 7 originally, but wished the cookies had more bacon... if i made them again i'd use 9-11 pieces)



douse me in brown suga and bake me up 
mmmmmnn yeah. xoxo, bacon

 to make: preheat oven to 350 degrees. place a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet, and line bacon on top of rack. sprinkle with brown sugar, then bake for about 20 minutes, until crisp. remove and set aside, then crumble when it has cooled (this is my favorite way to cook bacon... it is always cooked evenly, and maintains it's perfect bacony shape...works best for thick cut bacon).

in a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. beat butter, sugars, syrup, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl until creamy. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. gradually beat in flour mixture until completely combined. stir in bacon, reserving 2-3 pieces for 'bacon sprinkles'.

drop by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, sprinkling with a bit of the reserved bacon sprinkles. bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
***
verdict: love the idea of these, whatever sick effer was the first one to make them was a genious. as with anything, all i could think was "MORE BACON", but even as is they were great. quintessential chocolate chip cooky AND sweet & salty bacon zing... hell yes. nice all-american fatty cooky. 7 *******.