Ebelskivers…. cornbread & feta!

Okay I think I’m finally ready to share my latest cooking obsession: Ebelskivers!  So what the heck are Ebelskivers (pronounced: aebleskiver)?  They are essentially filled pancakes, originally from Denmark.  You can make savory ones, sweet ones, etc- great as an appetizer, breakfast, side dish or dessert!

Last Christmas I was given this Ebelskiver pan and cookbook by my brother and sister-in-law and it was probably one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.  I love it- so many options and possibilities!

 

Available for purchase at: William Sonoma

For a taco night recently, I made cornbread Ebelskivers filled with feta cheese!  Yum!

Ingredients: milk, small block of feta cheese, cornbread mix (i.e. 2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix for approx 18 Ebelskivers), eggs, basil (dried is best), chili powder, salt, pepper, butter (about a tablespoon)

Tools: Ebelskiver pan, long skewer sticks, pastry brush (plastic best)

Directions:

• Mix cornbread package with eggs (per instructions)
• Add a pinch of salt, pepper & chili powder, and a good amount of basil to the mixture (about 2 tablespoons for approx 18 Ebelskivers or 2 boxes Jiffy cornbread)
• Gradually pour in milk until the mix is thin, but not totally liquid (has a little thickness to it)
• Warm the Ebelskiver pan on the stove at about 4.5 (electric) or medium/low (gas)- make sure you use a burner that covers whole pan!
• Preheat the oven to about 200 to keep the Ebelskivers warm while making the rest
• Melt butter in small cup/dish
• Once the pan has fully heated, paint the butter with the pasty brush over all the Ebelskiver cups
  
• Pour the mixture into the Ebelskiver cups, filling about 1/2 way
• Quickly plop about a thumb-sized portion of feta cheese into the middle of each of the cups & lightly push it down (NOT to bottom!)

• Cover the feta cheese with a little bit of the mixture, until almost filling the Ebelskiver cup

• Allow the mixture to cook- you’ll know it’s time to flip them when the top starts to get a bit bubbly- like pancakes do!

 

• Gently pinch the sides of the Ebelskiver with skewers and quickly flip it over in the pan 180 degrees…be prepared to be a little frustrated- it takes a while to master “the flip”….

• Cook for a minute or two (or until the other side is golden brown, too)
• Put the cooked Ebelskivers in the warmed oven (in a metal pan & try not to pile) to keep crispy and hot until the rest of them are done!
• Enjoy!!

 

Fun with Frosting Friday….Snowman & Christmas Tree!

Hip hip hooray, it’s Fun with Frosting Friday!

As promised, today I am going to be showcasing a sweet 3-D snowman I made a few years ago!

Ingredients/tools: M&M’s, chocolate chips, 1 carrot, sweet & sour gummies, 2 tubs white frosting, 2 boxes cake mix, mini marshmallows, black food coloring, large platter, small tupperware cup with lid, decorators tips & bag, 3 round pans: 7 inch, 9 inch, 11 inch (as long as 3 different sizes, exact measurements doesn’t matter-can also use 2 of the same size & trim one down)

Instructions:

• Mix cake batter up & pour GENEROUSLY into 3 pans
• Bake cakes per instructions
• Mix about 1/2 a cup of white frosting with a drop or two of black food coloring & scoop about 2 tablespoons into decorator’s bag with a rough-edged tip**
• After the cakes have fully cooled to room temperature, cut the edges off, rounding them
• Pile the cakes on top of each other- adding a thin layer of frosting between each
• Generously lather the white frosting all over the piled cakes
• Create the snowman’s scarf with the sweet & sour candies, the buttons and eyes with M&M’s, the smile with the chocolate chips, and break off the tip of the carrot for his nose.
• To create the hat (create first, then place on the snowman!!): place the lid of a small tupperware container down, spread a little black frosting on the edges of the tupperware container and stick it to the lid (lid up, so not actually sealed to create the brim…use the next size up lid if not enough of a brim).  Generously lather the black frosting all over the tupperware & place on the top of the snowman’s head.  OR you can dunk a jumbo marshmallow in black frosting & frost around the bottom, to look like there is a lid around his “top hat”

• Scatter a few mini marshmallows around the bottom of the platter
• Squirt the black frosting in the decorator’s bag to make the snowman’s arms**…
  **NOTE:  I would actually suggest you skip this step all together & just use pretzel sticks for his arms instead!!

Annnnd volia- you have a cute SNOWMAN!!
(I apologize for the poor picture quality, it was back when I had a pretty basic digital camera…)

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Another holiday cake idea is a Christmas Tree Cake (see photo below).  I made one last year & unfortunately completely forgot to take a photo of it…I know, I know… Mine did come out almost exactly like this one, though, from FamilyFun.com.

It was unbelievably easy to make, too!  Here’s how…

Ingredients: frosting, green food coloring, 9×13 inch rectangular baking pan & candy for the decorations (i.e. Twizzlers Pull & Peel, gumdrops, Gummy Life Savers, mints, nonpareils, etc)

Instructions:

• Bake the cake per recipe & allow to fully cool
• Cut the cake in the pan like this: 
  
• Remove cake from pan & assemble (as shown above) on a platter
• Mix frosting with green food coloring & later over the cake
• Decorate!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Trees…the good, bad and the ugly

I’ve been having fun scanning through photos I’ve come across on the interwebs, in person & in catalogs of Christmas Trees that I thought I’d share…

GOOD: I took this photo of a wine shop display a few weeks ago in Bristol, VT.  It’s creative & fun.  While I wouldn’t really suggest you to have this “christmas tree” in your living room, it’s certainly a creative display if you own a wine shop!!

BAD: Wine bottles= classy.  Mountain Dew cans= trashy.  Creative, yes, but very very tacky… Oh boy, I’m sure someone had a major caffeine rush after drinking all those cans of Mountain Dew…let’s hope it wasn’t just one person!

UGLY: While upside-down Christmas Trees are moderately funny, they are also just plain ridiculous.  Ugh, and don’t even get me started on the punk Santa Claus standing at the bottom….

GOOD: This is my boyfriend’s tree… He chopped the tree down & I helped him decorate it.  It’s simple and cute.  The only downside is that the LED lights are just a tad bit on the blue-ish side when lit…

UNSURE…I guess I can’t really be dissing all these trees too badly when this is my own little “Charlie Brown” Christmas Tree… It was mainly decorated as a joke with Shotgun Shell Christmas Lights for a party & is in dire need of the red stand skirt I have in storage.  Still kinda cute though, no?  If you are somehow interested in the shotgun shell lights you can find them here: http://www.shotgunshellchristmaslights.com/

GOOD: Pretty, simple & classic.  Found in Southern Living Magazine’s website.

BAD: I’m all for peace, but this tree is just a bit much.  I was quite frankly rather surprised to have found it in the “Christmas Tree Ideas” section…really Pottery Barn?

UGLY: Here is another example of “what were you thinking Pottery Barn?”…. What really makes me laugh is their description, actually suggesting for someone to do this: “Make a teakettle your tree topper, tuck an English toast rack between boughs….the look is classically beautiful and more than a little fun.”  Um, I would not suggest anyone to take this decorating tip OR use fake snow- yuck!  And can we note that they found one of the most scraggly-looking trees I’ve ever seen!  Trim your trees people!

GOOD: Thankfully Pottery Barn redeemed itself with this Christmas Tree idea.  It’s a good blend of nostalgic ornaments & classic balls, and the Santa hat on the top is a cute touch.  It is key to not over-stuff the tree with ornaments!

UGLY: Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for “ugly christmas tree” and this image came up…Enough said.

P.S. NEVER use Tinsel…you’re really never able to get all of it off & therefore chipper companies cannot use them/recycle the tree…

UGLY: Okay, so this isn’t technically a Christmas Tree, it’s a Christmas decor idea and it’s absolutely horrible….I typically like the decorating ideas in Country Living, but this one is just plain weird!  Hmmm maybe my next post should be the good, bad & the ugly Christmas Decoration Ideas…

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P.S. If  you are still stumped on Christmas gifts, here is another site with some GREAT gift ideas…http://www.containerstore.com/shop/giftWrapWonderland/greatGiftIdeas

Quick lunch…a creative salad

For anyone who claims that salads are boring, they are clearly not trying the right salads.  My salads are rarely boring.  I LOVE a good salad!  

Ingredients:

• Red leaf lettuce (cut & washed)
• Sliced apple (I used an Empire)
• Crumbled gorgonzola cheese
• Craisins (packaged dried cranberries)
• Pecans (crushed/broken in half by hand)
• Balsamic dressing (I used Annie’s Natural)

This salad was not only nutritious- it was delicious!

For lunch, I often pair a yummy salad like this with a small cup of soup or another small side (i.e. 1/2 a cup of orzo salad or chicken salad).

Fun with Frosting Friday…Funny Faces Cupcakes!

As promised, my post today is of the Funny Faces Cupcakes I expressed my desire to make last week.  I think that they came out pretty darn cute, too!  

So just how did we make these cute little faces?

Ingredients:

Devil’s Food Cake Mix by Duncan Hines, Pillsbury Buttercream Frosting, various colored decorator’s gels, Twizzler’s Pull-n-Peel, Cheerios, sprinkles, M&M’s, and various other candies and items you think would make good eyes, mouths, hats, etc!

Directions:

• Mix and bake Devil’s Food Cake.  NOTE: use butter instead of oil for best flavor!!
• Allow cupcakes to cool, approx 20-30 minutes
• Generously frost cupcakes
• Start having some fun with decorating!
• We had a great time giggling over the various funny face creations we came up with- using a potato chip as a cowboy hat, Life Saver fruits for ears on a dog, Cheerio hair, Twizzler mustaches, etc!

These cupcakes turned out to be MUCH easier to make than we’d anticipated & were a lot of fun.  Our finished product:

Cute, huh?!

SUGGESTION: They would be a great party game- make the cupcakes, frost them & then put out various candies & items I listed above for people to create their own funny face dessert!

 

Preview of Fun with Frosting Friday coming next week: 

Holiday Gift Ideas…per recipient

The Fair Trade Conscious:

Star Bright Ornament Set $9

http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/star-bright-ornament-set

The quirky friend (or family member):

Pooping Dog Coffee Mug $8.50

http://www.poopingdog.com/buy-stuff/pooping-dog-stuff/pooping-dog-coffee-mug.html

Funny t-shirts:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/generic/

 

The Scientist:

Giant Plush Microbes $8.99 each

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/6708/

 

Crystal Growing Kit $14.99

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/a72f/

 

The Tech Geek:

App Magnets $12.99 (for 18)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/d24e/

 

PC Diagnostic Dice $19.99

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/a7d4/

The Baker:

Vintage Apron $32.94

http://www.vintageaprons.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=Redpolka-Vintage-Apron

 

Stainless-Steel Pastry Scraper $8

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/stainless-steel-pastry-scraper/?pkey=cbaking-pastry-tools-bakeware%7Cbkwpstacc

 

A Redhead:

Yes, It’s Natural… Tee $17.99

http://realmofredheads.com/store/index.php/action/item/id/172/prevaction/category/previd/10/prevstart/0/

 

Books: (unfortunately some of these are out of print…)

The Ginger Survival Guide: Everything the Redhead Needs to Cope in a Cruel Gingerist World

The Redhead Handbook: A fun and comprehensive guide to red hair and more

Redheads

The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair

The Little Book of Red Hair

The Redhead Encyclopedia

The Shopper:

Notepad Clutch $14

(A friend of mine gave this to me last year & I love it!)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62851916/the-mini-shopper-notepad-clutch-whimsy

 

2011 Vermont Entertainment Coupon Book $25 (normally $35)

http://entertainment.com/discount/change_location.shtml

 

Buy Local Coupon Book $10

Purchase locations: http://vbsr.org/index.php/pages/static/cat/local_first_vermont_coupon_book

 

The Wine Lover:

Wine Glass Charms (made by me!) $15

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleMissRedhead

 

Ski Wine Rack $56

http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/snow-ski-wine-rack

Green Gifts:

Eco-Tree Colored Pencils $8

http://www.greenobambino.com/Miss-Brittany-s-Eco-Tree-Colored-Pencils-p/mb-et.htm

 

Record Bowls $24

http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/record-bowls

Fun(ny) find…Bearded Beanies

I apologize for being redundant to those of you who are also my Facebook friends, but this is just TOO funny & creative not to share….

Knitted Beard Beanies!

(Un?)fortunately almost immediately after I posted the link onto my Facebook page, she sold out of the awesome knitted hats/beards on her Etsy shop…woo hoo for her!   She does have a few other fun finds on her shop, like a pattern for this silly Christmas Tree Hat:

Here is the link to the creative crocheter: http://www.etsy.com/shop/taraduff

Fun with Frosting Friday…frosting accents

I’m honestly running out of cakes/cupcakes to post…I have made so many more than I’ve posted already, but I can’t find photos of them because I either forgot to take one or it was pre-digital camera… A few that I still have in my file I’m waiting to post (they are more winter-themed).  Thankfully it’s also the holiday season & that means many holiday parties with my friends/family, so I’ll be baking+frosting more!

Anyway, this week my Fun with Frosting Friday post is a birthday cake that my sister-in-law made (thankfully she’s a fellow redhead, so she still fits into my blog criteria, haha).  The cake is one of my brother’s favorites- angel food cake.

Frosting doesn’t always have to be the main event of a cake/cupcake, sometimes it can be just the accent!

Ingredients/needs: angel food cake pan (non-stick ideal), angel food cake mix, water, frosting, decorator’s bags and tips, a pint of strawberries, frosted sunflower seeds

Instructions:

• Mix & whip angel food cake (I recommend Duncan Hines) in an ungreased angel food cake pan (has a hole in the middle…)  If you are really ambitious you can mix it from scratch….http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/heavenly-angel-food-cake/Detail.aspx
• As the cake is baking, wash & slice (in half) up about a dozen strawberries.  Sprinkle a little sugar on them to sweeten them a little (about 1-2 tablespoons)
• Prep the frosting for decorating- put about a cup of frosting (colored w/food coloring) in a decorator’s bag and the flower decorator’s tip on.
• Once the cake has finished baking & cooled (about 20 minutes), pour the strawberries into the hole of the angel food cake and a few around the edges for decoration.
• Squirt the frosting out of the decorator’s tip around the edge of the cake and around the bottom.
• For the middles of the flowers, decorate with frosted sunflower seeds.
• Serve & enjoy!

Tip: even more yummy when you fill the middle of the angel food cake with whipped cream AND strawberries!

Now for cupcakes I’m planning on making this weekend…Cupcake People!!

http://partycupcakeideas.com/hello-cupcake-people-cupcakes/cupcake-faces/

I’ll be posting this Friday (Dec 10) how they came out!!

Holiday gift ideas…under $50

Happy December!  You know what that means…the countdown begins- 25 days until Christmas (or less if you celebrate Hanukkah)!  Yes, it’s that time of year again- when you sadly see your bank account tally get smaller and smaller with every gift you buy for your loved ones to open on Christmas.  You want to see their happy faces with a great buy/find, but you also want to not be forced to eat Ramen Noodles for the rest of the winter, too.  Here are some less pricy gift ideas for those you are still struggling to find something for…

LL Bean.com: (free shipping for all orders!!)

Headlamp $19.95

Boat and Tote Bags $17.95-30.95 Able to be monogrammed!

Personalized Storybook $35

Wicked Good Slippers $49.95 These things last FOREVER!

Pottery Barn.com:

Antique Cocktail Shaker $29

 

Antique Bar Flask: $16-25 Monogramming available!

 

Leather luggage tags $8 & Leather Passport Holder $29

 

Mini iPod Amp $26 How cute!!

 

Silver-Plated Picture Frames $29-49

 

Vintage Wood Platter $39

 

Antique Silver Cheese Knives (set of 4) $39

 

Square Vases $12-44

RedEnvelope.com:

Tabletopics Conversation Starters $24.95

Purse Hook $19.95

This is ingenious!  I am always annoyed when a bar doesn’t have a hook by the stool & stuck having to hold my purse or risk it on the floor- this is a fabulous gift that can be monogrammed!!

Support Vermont:

Vermont Maple Sampler $30

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57856741/vermont-maple-sampler-with-free-shipping

 

Custom Hardwood Utensil Set and pouch $45

http://www.etsy.com/listing/50143239/custom-hardwood-utensil-set-with-hand

 

Handwoven Scarf by Boda.Boda $45

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62596476/handwoven-scarf-made-with-fun-and-color

 

Christmas Tree Truffles (11 pc) $34

http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/Chocolate/Chocolate-Truffles/Gourmet-Candy.aspx

 

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice cream and Dessert Book $8.56

Click “Gifts” on:  http://www.benjerry.com/

 

Gardeners.com (Gardener’s Supply Company):

Kitchen Compost Crock $29.95

 

Colorful Birdhouses $19.95