Tuesday, January 26, 2010

homemade hot fudge

A few weeks ago we had a few of Mike's work friends over, and for dessert we had brownie fudge sundae. I've been wanting to try this recipe of homemade hot fudge for SO long (like years!). Instead of forking over $2-3 for a small jar of hot fudge, I was able to make this for much cheaper, and had SO much leftover!

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 can evaporated milk
2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Melt the butter in a pan, adding the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Add the evaporated milk and the powdered sugar. Bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

butter yaki & won tons


In continuing with my winter vacation stories.... I have to show the pictures of a big tradition that my family has. Ever since I was a little girl, we have made a dinner called "butter yaki". Now, my spelling of this Japanese dinner might be off, but in short, you cook it in an electric skillet, using butter to cook the vegetables & marinated meat. My family "adopted" a man named Floyd, who lived in Kansas City to go to dental school when I was little. He was the one who taught the family this amazing meal. I have also heard he named his daughter after me as well.... :)

There is a lot of preparation for this dinner. My parents start soaking the chicken (or steak) in homemade teriyaki sauce the night before. My mom likes to cut up the meat when it's still partially frozen and cuts it very thin (that way it cooks faster). Then she pours the marinade over the meat and places it back in the fridge.

We use all different kinds of vegetables. Broccoli, sprouts, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, snow peas... you name it! We all give our opinion on what we want in our stir fry....

This is my dad. He's the cook of the night... always the cook the night we have butter yaki. It's just the way we roll in our family. Dad cooks the butter yaki. He takes a little of each ingredient and stirfries it... and serves it to us. Then he does it again: melt butter, add meat, & add veggies. He usually does about 3-4 rounds of this. We always have leftovers. Mom makes the rice and fries the won tons. Oh, won tons you asked? Now, THIS, is my most favorite food in the ENTIRE world. Other than chocolate. Every year my mom always asks me what I want for my birthday dinner, and it's always won tons. I would be perfectly happy with just won tons. Nothing else.

It also takes a bit of time to prep these babies. You mix up the mixture of chicken, green onions, soy sauce & egg whites. Then you buy the won ton wrappers, spread a little in the middle, and fold it accordingly. My girls are now helping with the job that my brother and I held for so many years. I love teaching them the tricks that I learned... {use the fingers!}

Then, my mom fries them. Yummm! Keeps them warm in the oven until it's time to eat.


In order to fully appreciate won tons, we dip them in a sauce made out of mustard & soy sauce. One can also use plum sauce. Very delicious!


My dad this year made virgin strawberry margaritas for us (the kind in the bucket, w/ ginger ale). Again, a very special dinner for our family! We don't get it often, but when we do get it, it's a special treat for us!

Won Tons:
1 chicken breast
2 egg whites
4-5 green onions
soy sauce (dribble)

Put all in a food processor and blend (process? mince?)

Spoon a small amount in the middle of a won ton wrapper, place water on the outside edges of the wrapper, fold into a triangle, then take the corner and fold into the top part of the triangle. Do this for the opposite side. Place on a cookie sheet that has cornstarch on the bottom to prevent sticking while it's waiting to fry!

Teriyaki Marinade
1 3/4 c water
grated ginger root (fresh!) -- maybe a tbsp?
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c soy sauce


Heat water, then add brown sugar so it melts. It's always equal parts brown sugar & soy sauce, and double that amount in water. So if you need to marinate a TON of meat, then that's the portions you need to use!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

the most beautiful gingerbread cookies ever

my friend kristen is amazing. she came in carting these type of cookies at church one sunday for the young women. i was jealous. they were too beautiful to eat! then one day, katie babysat for kristen, and came home with a bag of these babies! they were the best gingerbread cookies i have ever eaten! i took several pictures because they were simply a work of art.... and i begged kristen for the recipe. she was so sweet, and she gave me the recipe! i have a few other recipes of hers to share later on as well! she said she got it from her husband's aunt, who got it from possibly the mormon essentials cookbook. Enjoy!

Cast of Characters
aka ingredients

5 to 5 1/2 c flour

1 tsp salt
1 tsp b soda
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 c shortening
1 c sugar
1 1/4 c unsulphered molasses
(Kristen prefers Brer Rabbit Full Flavor, but couldn't find it, so used Grandma's)

2 eggs, beaten

Melt shortening in large saucepan until just melted, not hot. Add in order: sugar, molasses and eggs; mix well. Cool slightly, then add four cups dry ingredients and mix well. Turn mixture onto lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining dry ingredients by hand. Add a little more flour, if necessary, to make a firm dough.

Roll out dough- bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes




i will post the royal icing recipe she used shortly!
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