Barbie's Made Up Milanos!

This great recipe and the pictures are courtesy of one of my bestest friends Barbie!!!  She did such an awsome job! I cannot wait to try and make these too!!

I love Pepperidge Farm Milanos, I just hate paying all that money for such a simple cookie.

So in my quest to simplify life and save some pennies I put this simple recipe together.


The best part is that there are only 5 ingredients!!

YOU WILL NEED:
1 cup flour

¼ cup butter (melted) unsalted

1 egg

¼ sugar

Nutella

Combine the above ingrediants and mix till forms a somewhat crumbly dough.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Take a small bit of the mix and roll the dough in your hands until a small ball is formed

Use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough balls on your baking sheet

Place in oven

Bake at 350 F for 6 minuets

After 6 minuets flip the cookies over, and bake for another 6 minuets

The cookies wil be slightly golden.

Let cool completely. Once the cookies are room temp, the fun begins!
Use a table spoon to dollop some of the nutella on half the cookies. Now take the ones that do not have nutella on them and sandwich them together. Let the nutella set and VOILA yummy Milanos!!

Irish Soda Bread.

Mmmm,

This post is dedicated to my Irish friend Colleen who requested an Irish recipe for St. Patty's day :) I volunteer at a legal aid clinic about once or twice per month. The clinic is located in the rectory of an Irish Catholic Church. Every year around St. Patricks day they have Soda Bread from an Irish Bakery that is located in a suburb of Detroit. I tasted it for the first time about 3 years ago and fell in LOVE. It's dense and chewy and crumbly and sweet but salty at the same time. It is heaven. HEAVEN. I finally decided to make some from myself and found an awsome recipe here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marilyn-oreillys-irish-soda-bread-recipe/index.html

Special thanks to my friend Cybelle for the amazing photos!!! You can see all her amazing photography at http://www.cybellecodish.blogspot.com/

Wow it is so good. And! SOOO easy. Make this. Immediately!! YUMMMMM!!!
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, optional (i didn't use these)
1 cup currants (the recipe called for raisins but, i dont like them so i used currants and a bit of dried cranberries)
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg

Directions

Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt and stir well to mix.
Add the butter and rub in until the butter disappears into the dry ingredients.
Stir in the currants and cranberries.
In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg together and mix into the dough mixture with a rubber spatula.

Turn the dough out on a floured work surface and fold it over on itself several times, shaping it into a round loaf. Transfer the loaf to one cookie sheet or jelly roll pan covered with parchment or foil and cut a cross in the top. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes more, until well colored and a toothpick plunged into the center emerges clean.

Cool the soda bread on a rack. Serve this slathered in TONS of butter to your lovely friends. It is sooo good.

smooches!
gigi

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

So, i get TONS of requests for these cookies. However, the problem is that i HATE white chocolate. I cannot stand the stuff. It never did anything to me, but, its just not my thing. I'm a milk chocolate kinda girl.

However! These cookies are PHENOM! They are so pretty, sooo moist and bursting with nuts and chocolate. This is by FAR the best white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe that exists. Trust me on this one. You must try these. I still hate white chocolate, but it certainly didn't keep me from sneaking a few of these to put under my pillow ;)


Ingrediants:
1 cup of butter (softened)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (feel free to use less, these cookies are uber sweet)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.
4. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and gradually stir into the mixture *DO NOT OVERMIX!
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookies sheets
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Wrap them up in pretty packages and pass them out to all of your fabulous friends!
Smooches!
gigi

Pumpkin Bread

Two of my very best friends had babies in the last couple of months, and one of them even had twins! I love to visit them and the new additions - Sasha, Rocco and Marianna. And, because they are new moms (cindy and kelly), i like to bring them baskets filled with goodies and love. I came across this awesome recipe as i was browsing around some blogs one freezing cold Michigan evening. I love this recipe, first because i LOVE pumpkin and second because it makes 2 loaves with virtually no effort. The best part though, i guarantee you will have these ingredients at home already! Now, i did make some changes, and you will see them in parenthesis next to the ingredient. I hope you love this recipe. Make a loaf for someone you love! It is sooo good!




Pumpkin Bread Recipe (from: zuccherodolce.blogspot.com)


1 can (about 2 cups) canned pumpkin (or homemade pumpkin puree)
3 cups sugar (i only used 2 cups)
1 cup water
1 cup Canola oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground cloves (i didn't have any, so i didn't use them)


Preheat the oven to 350 F.


Spray two 9" x 5" loaf pans with baking spray.

Combine pumpkin, sugar, water, oil, and eggs in the bowl of a standmixer (or in a large bowl if you'll be using a hand mixer).


Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder,cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves.

Slowly mix in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then cool on rack.

Wrap up with a pretty ribbon and deliver with love to make someones day :)

smooches, gigi

Love in a potato.

One of my bff's growing up, Yvonne used to make this for me alllll the time. Its so so delish. And more that that, its pretty much the easiest thing on the planet. So much so that my other bff, Cybelle made it and took these photos of her result :) (check out her blog, its FAB! www.cybellecodish.blogspot.com)

MMMMM, now how can you not make it for your bffs?

Recipe:

1 package of frozen potatoes (not hash browns but like the square ones)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 stick butter melted

1 big sour cream

1 onion finely chopped.

2 cups Cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients except for the cheese. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees covered with foil in a 9x13 baking dish. After 1 hour remove the foil, sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes or until it looks like the pictures above. (this recipe also doubles very well)

Enjoy :) and nice job bella!

love, gigi

For the Love of Lobsters

so, anyone who knows me knows how much i LOVE my doggie. aka Lola the Lobster :) . Above is a picture of her baking with me.

In fact i love all doggies and there have been many who have played a huge part in my life. I'm going to give shout outs later. So, seeing as these adorable puppies bring us so much love and happiness, why not do something wonderful for them? I came across this recipe for healthy doggie treats, and decided to whip up a batch for lola and the other pooches in my life. If you love the doggies (aka lobsters) as much as i do, i recommend you whip up a batch for your loves too!

Ingrediants:

1 - 16 oz jar of turkey, rice and garden vegetables Gerber baby food

1/4 cup savory beef gravy (just the jar kind is fine)

1/4 cup water

1 large egg - seperated

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon milk

1.Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In a large bowl, combine baby food, water, gravy and egg white.

3. Gradually add flour, stirring to combine.

4. In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and milk - set aside

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness.

Using a bone shaped cutter (i used hearts too :) cut out cookies and transfer to baking sheet. Brush cookies with egg wash. Bake for 35 minutes or so, until golden brown. Cool completely before storing or they will get soggy.

Then give them to the lovliest lobster in your life and tell them how much you love them :) and accept all the great wet kisses you can stand!

My doggie shout outs to the dogs who have brought me so much love and joy:

Lola!!!, Nika, Tank, Lucy, Charlie, Babu, Cashie, Angel, Mandy, Scuba!!!

Smooches! gigi

Goop Apple Cake

I go this recipe from the GOOP newsletter. I dont care what people say about Gwenyth Paltrow, her recipes are AWSOME. and so was this cake. Make it!

TIME: 1 hour approx. including baking time
1 cup sugar
½ stick or 2 ounces butter, melted
½ cup applesauce
1 egg
1¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2½ cups chopped apples (i used macintosh)
¾ to 1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your baking dish. Mix the sugar, butter, applesauce and egg together with a hand mixer. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Blend the wet and dry ingredients and then add the apples and walnuts. Pour into baking dish and bake for 30 to 50 minutes (depending on your pan and oven temp) or until knife or toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

Pecan Tartlets

I updated this recipe, because my friend Cybelle - the best photog EVER - took photos of these tartlets! Check out her blog at www.cybellecodish.blogspot.com. Thanks Bella!

These Pecan Tarlets are so great. They are delish and sooo super cute too! Perfect to take along to a party!

These were so super fun and SOOO super easy. Go make them now. im positive you have all the ingrediants in your fridge!

Recipe:

Tartlet shell:

1 stick of butter, softened

4 oz of cream cheese, softened.

1 cup of flour.

Cream the butter and cream cheese together then add flour. Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate for 1 hour.

Filling:

1 egg

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tbs vanilla

3/4 cup of finely chopped pecans.

beat the egg with a whisk and add the sugar and vanilla. Then add the chopped pecans.

This recipe will yield 24 tartlets. Divide the dough equally into your little tartlet pan - rolling the dough into little balls.

When you have filled the pan - take a spoon (i used the tbs measuring spoon - worked like a charm) and smoosh the dough into the tartlet pan and use your fingers to make sure the dough rises to the edges. Then fill with the filling.

Bake at 375 for aobut 20 minutes - or until they are lightely brown.

Perfection!!!

Have fun :) smooches, gigi.

Serbian Galete

Me and all the Serbian kids i know pretty much grew up on these cookies. They are so good. They however, are not very "American" which means that they are not sweet or filled with any chocolate deliciousness BUT are amazing on their own. They are buttery, lemony, vanillay discs of heaven. To make them though, you must have a waffle iron. But trust me, go buy one, you have to make these. They are AMAZING! AND the recipe (which i am translating from a Serbian recipe) says they can last up to a month! and they just get better and better and better!

Ingrediants:

2 sticks of unsalted butter softened

2 turkish coffee cups of vegetable oil (im sorry if you dont know what these are but i dont know how else to translated it :-/

3 eggs

15 tbs of sugar

1 tbs of baking powder OR 1 Prasak za Pecivo (for my fellow serbs)

1 tsp of baking soda

2 packages of vanila sugar (vanilin secer) - This comes to about 2 TBS.

1 cup of milk

zest of 1 lemon

800 grams of all purpose flour

Directions:

Beat together Butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and beat until incorporated.

After the eggs are incorporated add the remaining ingrediants except for the milk and flour.

Once all the other ingrediants are in begin adding the flour and milk in 3 additions starting with the flour and ending with the milk. Your dough will be nice and moist.

At this point, plug in your waffle maker and let it heat up well. Then take a heaping spoon full of dough and shape into a ball and drop into the waffle maker.

They will cook up very quickly - in about 40 seconds or so - so dont walk away from them. Let them sit on a cooling rack straight from the waffle maker and package them up when you are done. You may come out with several dozen depending on how big you make them. Send some to your friends and family. They will love them! enjoy :)

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

I used to work above Fishbones in Downtown Detroit and used to order Jamalaya allll the time! Well, here is a quick and easy version you can do at home. It makes a bunch and is delish!

Ingredients
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 package of turkey keilbasa, sliced
2 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans

1 onion chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 can reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound frozen peeled and cooked shrimp, thawed
2 cups instant uncooked rice
Directions
In a slow cooker, combine chicken, sausage, tomatoes, onion, green
pepper, celery, and chicken broth. Stir in oregano, Cajun seasoning,
hot sauce, bay leaves, and thyme.
Cover, and cook on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. Stir in the
thawed shrimp, cover and cook until the shrimp is heated through,
about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Add a cup or 2 of uncooked instant rice and let it sit for a bit until it softens up and there ya go!!!

Banana cake with Pecan Crumb Topping

I have the same issue with bananas as i do with blueberries। When they are in season, they are EVERYWHERE! I'm always trying to figure out what to do with them before they get to the point of no return and i end up making yet another loaf of banana bread. So, a co-worker of mine subscribes to the Good Housekeeping Magazine and she always brings them into work when she is done with them. I am "that girl" who rips out the recipes that i like leaving blank pages in the magazine. (sorry!) Well, one day i came across this banana cake recipe that looked so good, so i ripped it out in usual gigi fashion.

Well this weekend my friend kelly who is having twins was having her baby shower and i thought, what a perfect time to make this cake to take along! After all, it is so super pretty! So i did, and it was a hit!!! So good! So moist! You must make this! It is so good either warm or at room temp. I made it the day before so it could cool off and chill for a bit. You have to make this! It is sooo great!

Pecan – Crumb Topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsb cold butter or margarine
¾ cup chopped pecans
Banana Cake
1 1/3 c mashed fully ripe bananas (abour 4 medium)

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened

3.4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 lg eggs.

1. Prepare topping:

In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles carse crumbs. Set aside.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350. Lightly grease 13" by 9" pan.

3. Prepare cake: in a bowl mix bananas, lemon juice and vanilla.

4. On wax paper, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

5. In large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

6. On low speed alternately add flour and banana mixtures and beat until smooth.

7. Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with crumb topping and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick insterted in ceter comes out clean.

8. Cool in cake pan on wire rack.

Cut it up, put it on a pretty tray and viola!!! Again, you end up the star of the party!
Smooches! gigi

Turkey Meatloaf

Mmmmmmmmmm........
Turkey Meatloaf...

Here we go!

Ingredients

1 tablespoons good olive oil

1 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)

1/6 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoons tomato paste (i substituted ketchup here)

2 pounds ground turkey breast

3/4 cups plain dry bread crumbs (i used italian)

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup ketchup

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, (cook the onions - if you are using them), oliveoil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned,approximately 15 minutes.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock,and tomato paste and mix well.

Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in alarge bowl.

Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreasedsheet pan.

Spread the ketchup evenly on top.

Bake for 1 1/2 hoursuntil the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through.

Serve with love and collect all of the fabulous compliments you can handle :)

smooches! gigi