Favorite Recipes of 2011

Today is the last day of 2011. Feels like it was just a couple months that I was writing about my Favorite Recipes of 2010. Can't believe another year has flown by! I continue to have a blast baking, cooking and blogging. I am so thankful for all of my readers and have also been extremely blessed this year with the opportunity to attend culinary school.

In 2011 I wrote 210 posts and found many new, delicious recipes that are now staple items in my kitchen. It was extremely hard for me to narrow it down to my top 5 recipes because there are so many I absolutely love. (I never blog about a recipe that I don't like.) But here it goes...

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Kathie's Favorite Recipe #1 - Cinnamon Rolls

We learned how to make this recipe in culinary school and I've made them many, many times this year. They are a often a request when I have overnight guests. I love to make them just as much as I love eating them!



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Kathie's Favorite Recipe #2 - Chocolate Eclairs

I learned how to make Pâte à Choux this year and LOVE it! This is a dessert that I have made several times and am well known for. I've made chocolate eclairs, cream puffs dipped in caramel sauce, and even a profiterole "cake" from pâte à choux. This is my hubby's #1 favorite of 2011!



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Kathie's Favorite Recipe #3 - Chicken Parmesan

I blogged about this recipe back in January of 2011. This is my go-to recipe when making a meal for someone in need, whether I have a friend who is sick or perhaps just had a baby. It makes a delicious meal and is pretty simple to throw together.



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Kathie's Favorite Recipe #4 - Tortellini Soup

Mmmm...my favorite soup of the year! This recipe was shared by my friend K over at Hanging On By A Thread and it is a meal I make a lot during the cold winter months.



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Kathie's Favorite Recipe #5 - Mojo Pork

Last but not least, here is my favorite crock pot recipe of the year. This pork recipe is so tender, juicy, and full of flavor. My pantry is now stocked with bottles of Mojo marinade so I can make this whenever I need a big, hearty meal.



Thanks again to all my readers who check in to see what I've been up to in the kitchen and who are following my journey in culinary school. May you all be blessed, healthy, and have full bellies in 2012!

Hoisin Chicken Wings

If you haven't noticed yet, we love to eat chicken wings! It's my hubby's favorite food and even my soon-to-be 5 year old will often ask if we can have "chicken on the bones" for dinner. Here's a chicken wing recipe that's made in the crock pot so it was a win-win situation for everyone. It went great with the baby bok choy I blogged about two days ago.



Hoisin Chicken Wings
Source: Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

2 - 3 lb. frozen chicken wings or drumettes
1/2 c. prepared hoisin sauce
1/4 c. honey
4 to 5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 T. sesame oil

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the chicken into the crock. Add the hoisin sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Stir before serving.

Baby Bok Choy

I love vegetables; especially bok choy! Here's a great way to steam and season bok chop. Super easy, fast, and healthy. I'll often prepare it when I'm in the mood for Chinese food. It reminds me of the way my father-in-law prepares many vegetables when he cooks.



Baby Bok Choy
Source: slightly adapted from Steamy Kitchen

1 1/2 lb. bok choy or baby bok choy
1 1/2 T. vegetable oil
3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 c. water
salt to taste
1 t. sugar
1 t. sesame oil

Start by trimming the stem off - don't trim too much - just the end. Cutting the thick stem off will ensure that the bok choy cooks evenly. Separate out the leaves, keep the tender center intact and clean under running water. Drain.

Thinly slice garlic.

Place wok or frying pan on your stove and pour in the cooking oil. Add the garlic. Turn the heat to medium-high. Let the garlic gently sizzle in the oil. When the aromatics become fragrant and light golden brown, add the bok choy leaves. Toss very well to coat each leaf with the garlicky oil for 15 seconds. Pour in water. Immediately cover and let cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and sugar and drizzle a bit of sesame oil on top.

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to take a moment to wish all my readers a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! I am enjoying time with friends and family and of course doing a little baking in the kitchen. I hope everyone has a blessed holiday season. Merry Christmas from Kathie Cooks!

Chocolates, Chocolates, and More Chocolates!

My brother-in-law and hubby's best friend's families are staying with us for the holidays. It's so fun having everyone here. C and K are loving the extra playmates and overnight guests! While our company is here, I thought I'd show off my new chocolate skills! I posted the recipes below however please keep in mind that you need to have a good understanding of how to temper chocolate in order to make them. (It took me weeks to learn this!) The chocolates I chose to make are (from left to right): gingerbread with a little gingerbread man on top, molded salted caramel, minty lemony hand dips, and peppermint! I hope everyone enjoys them!




Gingerbread Rolled Truffles
3 ¾ oz. Heavy Cream
½ oz. Corn Syrup
Pinch Salt
4 oz. 72% Dark Chocolate, chopped finely
1 oz. 38% Milk Chocolate, chopped finely
¼ oz. (1/2T) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
¼ oz. (2t) Pumpkin Pie Spice

Combine and scald the heavy cream, and salt. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir to combine the ingredients. When the temperature of the ganache falls to 95˚F, add the butter and spices. Emulsify with immersion blender or a whip. Let ganache firm at room temperature or by placing in cooler for short period of time. Scoop or pipe into desired size. Ideally, you would like the ganache to sit overnight to dry. Roll into round shape, place in cooler. Dip the truffles in 31 % white chocolate for a finish. (I dipped in dark chocolate.)

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Salted Caramel
1 ¼ oz. Granulated Sugar
1 oz. Water
3 ¼ oz. Heavy Cream
¼ oz. Corn syrup
1/8 oz. Sea Salt
5 oz. 31% White Chocolate, finely chopped
¾ oz. Butter, Unsalted, room temperature
¼ oz. Cocoa Butter, melted and cooled slightly

Mold the chocolate shells according to proper procedure. 58% Dark. Scald together the cream, corn syrup and salt. Caramelize the sugar. Add the cream mixture. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir to combine the ingredients. When the temperature of the ganache falls to 95˚F, add the butter and cocoa butter. Emulsify with immersion blender or a whip. Let ganache cool to below 85˚ F. Pipe into pre-molded shells. Ideally, you would like the ganache to sit overnight to dry. Cap the molds with 58% dark chocolate, tempered.

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Minty- Lemony Hand Dipped Chocolates
5 oz. Heavy Cream
1 peel Lemon zest
45 Mint leaves, chopped finely
2 oz. Glucose
3 oz. Butter, soft
33 oz. White Chocolate, melted
4 oz. Lemon Juice, warmed to 105˚F
40 oz. 64% Dark Chocolate, tempered, for coating

Bring to a boil the heavy cream, lemon peel, mint and glucose. Remove from heat and let steep 5 minutes. Strain through a chinois. Add the butter to the white chocolate. Massaging in to combine. Pour the cream and the lemon juice into the white chocolate. Use an immersion blender to combine. Spread the mixture to appropriate thickness, ½ inch thick and let crystallize. Foot the product. Cut into squares or rectangles. Dip into chocolate. Apply texture.

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Peppermint Rolled Chocolates
2 ½ oz. Heavy Cream
3 sprigs Mint, Fresh, just the leaves
Pinch Salt
6 ½ oz. 31% White chocolate, chopped finely
½ oz. (1T) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
Splash Crème de Menthe, mint liqueur
2 to 4 drops Peppermint Oil

Combine and scald the heavy cream, mint leaves and salt. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain and re-measure the cream again. Warm the cream. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir to combine the ingredients. When the temperature of the ganache falls to 95˚F, add the butter. Emulsify with immersion blender or a whip. Add the liqueur and the oil. Let ganache firm at room temperature or by placing in cooler for short period of time. Scoop or pipe into desired size. Ideally, you would like the ganache to sit overnight to dry. Roll into round shape. Dip the truffles in 31 % white chocolate for a finish. (I dipped them in dark chocolate.) Immediately after dipping, roll each truffle in the roughly chopped candy cane pieces. Let set before removing from candy.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Sweet potato casserole is a favorite of mine around the holidays. I love the sweetness and the toasted marshmallows on top. When I saw my cousin had made it in cupcake-form my mouth began watering instantly. These are delicious and I had so much fun making them...perhaps because I got to use my new kitchen torch for the first time.



I love this action shot of the blue propane flame.


My hubby's work is having a holiday cookie/dessert exchange today. It was extremely difficult to decide what I wanted to make for him to take. These turned out really well and I even packaged them up real cute!



Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting
Source: Bronte D.

For the cupcakes:
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
16 T. unsalted butter, softened
1½ c. sugar
3 large eggs
17 oz. sweet potato puree
½ t. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir together with a fork and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Mix in the sweet potatoes and vanilla extract, beating just until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:
8 large egg whites
2 c. sugar
½ t. cream of tartar
2 t. vanilla extract

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Brown with a kitchen torch and enjoy!!

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

Need a super fast and easy dessert to make for an upcoming holiday party? I've got a great one for you. I was introduced to this dump cake over Thanksgiving and fell in love with it! I just had to ask for the recipe and little did I know it's one of the easiest things you'll ever make. You just throw it all in the pan - no stirring needed. It's pretty amazing. You should try it! Oh, and don't forget to add a little ice cream on top...



Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake
Source: Kevin and Tammy M.

1 can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
1 can cherry pie filling
1 yellow cake box mix
1 bag pecans pieces
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9x13 pan with oil, then lightly flour. Add pineapple and cherry pie filling. Cover with yellow cake mix. Top with pecans. Thinly slice stick butter (entire stick) over top. Bake 45 to 50 minutes.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Three ingredients, some acrylic paints, and some Christmas music playing in the background = a fun afternoon with the kiddos and hopefully some great memories that they will keep with them forever. We had a blast making homemade Christmas ornaments this week! Even my 19 month old enjoyed getting her fingers a little dirty to create some adorable ornaments for our tree.

Here are a few of Kadence's...


Here are a few of Carson's...


They are both proud to see their artwork displayed on our Christmas tree this year. And I am one proud momma. I think they did a great job! :)

Homemade Christmas Ornaments
Source: Homemade Grits

4 c. flour
1 c. salt
1 1/2 c. water

Combine ingredients and knead dough for 15 to 20 minutes. (I used my stand mixer.) Roll dough out and cut out ornaments using cookie cutters. With a toothpick or straw, make a small hole for the hanger. Bake at 300ºF about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. You may have to bake considerably longer depending on how thick your items are. They may not feel hard right away but will harden as they cool.

Tip: make sure to use a nonstick surface, or spray cookie sheet with pam. Paint and decorate as desired. Acrylic paints work best and use a varnish to make them shiny.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Three ingredients, some acrylic paints, and some Christmas music playing in the background = a fun afternoon with the kiddos and hopefully some great memories that they will keep with them forever. We had a blast making homemade Christmas ornaments this week! Even my 19 month old enjoyed getting her fingers a little dirty to create some adorable ornaments for our tree.

Here are a few of Kadence's...


Here are a few of Carson's...


They are both proud to see their artwork displayed on our Christmas tree this year. And I am one proud momma. I think they did a great job! :)

Homemade Christmas Ornaments
Source: Homemade Grits

4 c. flour
1 c. salt
1 1/2 c. water

Combine ingredients and knead dough for 15 to 20 minutes. (I used my stand mixer.) Roll dough out and cut out ornaments using cookie cutters. With a toothpick or straw, make a small hole for the hanger. Bake at 300ºF about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. You may have to bake considerably longer depending on how thick your items are. They may not feel hard right away but will harden as they cool.

Tip: make sure to use a nonstick surface, or spray cookie sheet with pam. Paint and decorate as desired. Acrylic paints work best and use a varnish to make them shiny.

Culinary School - Finals are Over!

Yesterday was the last day of my finals for this quarter. I am officially on a 3 week break! Woo-hoo!!! For our last day in Chocolate and Sugar class each person had to create a chocolate and sugar centerpiece.

Here's my chocolate centerpiece. Requirements included: textured base, 4 piece base structure, crescent, 3 spheres of 3 different sizes with coloring, and a rolled chocolate flower on top. It also had to be at least 12 inches high. Other than that we were left on our own and told to be creative and have fun with it. My centerpiece turned out really well and was chosen to be put on display in the hallway for all the school to see.


Sugar class proved to be quite frustrating for many of us. Requirements included: bottom base with two sided structure, two pulled flowers, rock sugar, and some type of casted or poured sugar (I made sugar twirls). I ended up with a big blister on my thumb from pulling the hot sugar (in order to make flowers). My big flower also shattered while I was assembling my piece. That was very disappointing considering the amount of time it took to make. Even with that said, I am proud of what I created. And more importantly I ended up with A's in all 3 of my classes!


Here's a closer look at my pulled flower. Remember, everything in this centerpiece is made out of sugar {and isomalt} and is completely edible. If you look closely on the left side of the picture, you will see my large purple flower that shattered. Luckily, my small yellow flower stayed together!

Snowmen Doughnuts

Spotted these adorable snowmen on Pinterest. I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I love it because there are so many awesome recipes and ideas out there. I hate it because I will start browsing on Pinterest and before I know it, I've wasted an hour of two of my day!

Gotta love these snowmen though! You should have seen the huge smiles on my kids' faces when I let them eat one for breakfast the other day.



Snowmen Doughnuts
Source: Creative Gift & Party Ideas

Mini powdered doughnuts
Candy corn
Chocolate, melted

Push a candy corn into the middle of each doughnut. Melt chocolate and put into a small piping bag. Create eyes and mouth with the melted chocolate.

Scented Ornaments

These ornaments smell amazing! I wanted to make them last year and then time got away from me so I put it on top of my to-do list for this holiday season! My preschooler had a blast helping be dig through all my cookie cutters and find just the right ones for this project. We made snowmen, Christmas trees, crosses, gingerbread men, stars, candy canes, and even threw in a train or two.

These are super simple to make, just make sure you allow yourself about 3 days for them to dry. At first I laid them out on waxed paper on our counter and would flip them over each morning to make sure both sides were able to dry out. Then on the last day (when they were really starting to harden up) I laid them on a cookie rack to dry one last day. They look {and smell} wonderful on our Christmas tree!

Culinary School - Finals!

Finals are in full swing at culinary school. It's been an exhausting last couple of days. Friday night we had fun at my hubby's company Christmas party. Then just a few hours later I had to wake up at 4:30am in order to leave the house by 5am for my first set of finals! My chocolate final started at 6am on Saturday. We had a 15 minute break for lunch and then my sugar final began. Didn't get home until 6:30pm and by then I was completely wiped out!

I couldn't be happier with how well my chocolate and sugar finals went. There were written finals at the beginning of each and then on to the practicals. Here are my chocolates that I presented to the Chef at the end of the allotted time frame.

Orange Grand Marnier rolled truffles in the chocolate bowl, molded PB chocolates colored with orange, and Palet Or hand dipped truffles textured with gold straws.

Nutter Butter Santas

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!!

I get all giddy when I look at these little Santas. Love his {big} red nose! These little guys were in my last Kraft Foods magazine and I wanted to make them as soon as I saw them. Fun and easy to make. My preschooler loved putting Santa's eyes on and everyone loved eating them!

Pretzel Hugs

These are perfect if you need a small gift to give this Christmas. Buy some of those cute gift boxes and fill them up with these hugs. Let your friends know you are thinking about them this holiday season!

I found this cute idea on a blog called Eighteen25. It's a similar idea as the 5 Minute Turtles only this time using Hershey's Hugs. I made 1/2 hugs and 1/2 kisses.

Reindeer Doughnuts

Only 18 more days until Christmas! Does everyone have their tree up and decorated? We've had so much fun already and are in complete holiday mode! So far we've enjoyed playing in the snow, warming up with some hot chocolate, doing a little Christmas shopping, making smelly Christmas ornaments, and cuddling up for some great holiday movies. Over the next several days I am going to share some easy and adorable things you can make this holiday season. The first one up is Reindeer Doughnuts!

Is everyone familiar with Oriental Trading Company? You know, those fun catalogs with little gadgets, toys, and crafts of about anything you can dream of. I love sitting and browsing through those catalogs. I ordered some things from there for my son's Robot Birthday party last year. Well, did you know they also have recipes on their site? Who knew?!?! Not me, until I spotted these adorable Reindeer Doughnuts.

Deep Dish Cookie Pies

I lived in the burbs of Chicago for a few years right out of college. One of my favorite pizza places there was called Lou Malnati's and fortunately I had one right down the road from my apartment at the time. Lou's has this amazing deep dish cookie dessert that comes out warm and is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is supposed to be a copy-cat recipe of it. It was amazing and brought back some good Chicago-time memories!

I made half of the recipe below and it made 6 deep dish cookies. Enough to share with my neighbors!

Roasted Cabbage with Lemon

I love trying new foods for the first time. This is the first time I've ever eaten cooked cabbage. I know many people eat cooked cabbage as a New Year's tradition but my family never did that. The only way I've eaten cabbage is in cole slaw.

Seems lately, I've been roasting a lot of veggies, and adding lemon juice always adds tons of flavor so I was excited to try this recipe. It turned out great. I'll still admit that I'm not a huge fan of cooked cabbage but I loved the roasted, lemony flavor. Are any of you big cabbage fans?

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Here's a great appetizer idea for any occasion. We are huge fans of buffalo wings in this house so as soon I saw this recipe I knew my family would love it. I will definitely be making this again the next time we have some friends or family over. Buffalo sauce, blue cheese, celery....need I say more? Enjoy!

Bean Casserole

I love when I get recipe suggestions from friends and family. This one came from my mom so I knew it had to be good! This recipe is like the king of baked beans because there are lots of extra goodies in it that makes it even that much better than your standard baked beans. Serve as your main course (like I did) or as a side.

Teriyaki Drumettes

Yes, that's right...another crock pot recipe! My crock pot and I have been the best of friends lately!

This meal was quite tasty and went perfect with a big bowl of white rice; however I feel the name of the recipe is a little misleading. It reminds me more of a soy sauce chicken recipe that my father-in-law makes more so than a teriyaki recipe. The soy sauce flavor is very dominating and the gravy is runnier than you would expect for a teriyaki sauce. Even with that said, my family each gave it 2 thumbs up and gnawed the bones clean.

Curry Vegetable Dip

I may be 30-something but I'll admit...sometimes I like to play with my food too. :)

Pay particular attention to the eyes of this veggie person. It is a curry veggie dip. I was introduced to this during strudel making day and I fell in love! The best part about it? You make it by just mixing together Miracle Whip and curry powder. Don't shrug your nose until you try it. I could eat raw veggies all day long with this dip!

Baked Sweet Potato 'Fries'

I love watching The Food Network Channel. "Love" may be an understatement. If my TV had only one channel and I had to choose which channel that was, I would pick the Food Network Channel in a heartbeat. I could watch it all day long! My favorites have always been Paula Dean, Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee, and Alton Brown. In the past, I have always skipped past all of Ina Garden's Barefoot Contessa shows. I just never really gave her a chance. Well after falling in love with her Parmesan Roasted Broccoli recipe lately, I am now hooked on her too. In fact, I recently checked out all of her cookbooks from my local library. She uses some of the most basic {fresh} ingredients and turns them into such wonderful dishes.

These baked sweet potato "fries" were awesome! Another thing added to the list of Must Make for Thanksgiving dinner!

Culinary School - Week 8

This week in Advanced Cakes & Classical Tortes made more mini desserts and then plattered them up as you would for a dessert buffet service. We made the following items (those in bold are what I made):

1. Fresh Fruit Tarts
2. Opera Torte Squares
3. Dobos Torte Squares
4. Chocolate Mousse Cream Puffs
5. Fresh Fruit Cream Puffs
6. Mini Chocolate Flourless
7. Frozen Mousse
8. Mini Shooters (I made Red Velvet cake shooters)
9. Mini cherry pie
10. Mini Apple Pie
11. Mini key lime pie
12. Mini Lemon Meringue Pie

I also made a large cheesecake this week but we wrapped it up to freeze and will use it next week. Here are some pictures from the day. I don't have Chocolate or Sugar this class because of Thanksgiving so I will be enjoying the extra time off with my family!