Tag: stuff my wife makes

WTF is a Sweet & Spicy Peanut Butter-Bacon Sandwich & Should You Make It?

Yes, you read that right. A sweet and spicy peanut butter-bacon sandwich IS today’s taste test recipe for the weekend and per usual, the Hubs will do his Stuff My Wife Makes review down below. Spoiler alert: his face when the heat hits his throat is hilarious…

fI you’re new here: I make or bake new recipes to build my own family favorites and he (the Hubs) finally puts his peanut gallery comments to good use and reviews the goods. Scroll for the recipe, my recommendations, and any baking hacks I learned along the way.

Here is this week’s recipe:

THE RECIPE:

  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 4 slices cinnamon-raisin bread
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 4 crisp cooked bacon strips
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  1. Spread peanut butter on 2 bread slices; sprinkle with cayenne. Top with bacon and drizzle with honey. Top with remaining bread.

BAKING HACKS:

  1. Pretty self-explanatory (lol) BUT, I would like to remind you less is more when it comes to experimenting with heat. I like spice, but 1/8 tsp. was a little too much (even for four slices of cinnamon raisin bread) eve for me. Start with half of the 1/8 and work your way up.
  2. Omit the cayenne if you’re not a spicy kind of person.
  3. If you add banana some call it The Elvis Sandwich (going to try this next and probably LOVE it)

WILL IT MAKE THE CUT:

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He won’t even eat it without the cayenne now, LMAO. But trust me, it’s flipping delicious! I am adding it to my breakfast rotation. Who knew I would come to LOVE cinnamon raisin bread, especially the homemade kind from a few weeks ago…click here for that recipe.

ps: original recipe found on Taste of Home.

Everything you have ever wanted, is sitting on the other side of fear.-4

RamblinRandol is my journey back to loving myself (which happens to include baking). It’s an open letter on how I’m growing through what I’ve been through. And like Maya Angelou said, “the ache for home lives in all of us…” It’s time for me to feel at home in my own skin.

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Foul Proof Recipe For Your Next Gathering

Are you looking for a foul proof recipe for your next gathering that’ll be a flipping crowd pleaser? I don’t usually participate in skipping pages of a story to get to the good part but I can’t help it, today’s recipe IS your foul proof recipe for your next gathering.

A few weeks ago my MIL surprised me with a recipe book from Balboa Island’s art festival and it was filled with family recipes…so of course I flipped thorough it IMMEDIATELY. (I love recipe books, it’s my guilty pleasure, anyone else?)

This week’s recipe is called Grandmother Ruth’s Apple Goodie by Christy Hardison Ward, and it’s a good. Full disclosure: I’m not a huge warm apple fan. I don’t know why…I love hot apple cider. Anyways, my Hubs is happy to eat all of my warm apple recipes.

Scroll for the recipe, my baking hacks for this recipe, my Hubs’ review, and if this bake makes it into the I’ll make this more than once recipe book.

The Recipe:

Apple Filling 

  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1 T. flour
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 c. sliced apples

Topping

  • 1/2 c. oatmeal
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/8 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 c. butter, room temp.
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Sift flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together. Combine apple slices and place in the bottom of greased casserole.
  3. Combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix butter into coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over apples.
  4. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve hot or cold.

Baking Hacks:

  1. I translated 2 cups of apples into 2 apples, not because I Googled it to double check but because I wasn’t going to go back out and get any more apples. LOL
  2. When recipes call for x to y minutes I always set it for whatever is the middle between x and y. For example, between 35 – 40 minutes translated to 37 minutes and ended up being the magic number.
  3. YOU CAN’T MESS THIS UP

Stuff My Wife Makes:

Ps: Hell to the yes I would make these again, it was quick and easy for the most part (if you have the Pampered Chef apple peeler, corer and slicer, I bet it would make it WAY more easy) and my Hubs loved it.

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Lemon Berry Napoleon – Is It Good, Why Is It Called Napoleon?

Who here has tried to make three-tiered deserts, cakes included…it’s a little hairy at points, amiright? This week’s recipe by Home.Made.Interest was my first attempt at a three-tier dessert that WASN’T a cake…spoiler alert: I opted to make it two because #scarycustard.

This week’s recipe to try is a Lemon Berry Napoleon. Is it good and why is it called Napoleon? Keep scrolling for the recipe, some helpful first-time bake hacks, and if it makes the cut for recipes I make more than once. Oh, and what will the Hubs say? His review is down near the bottom, too!

The Recipe:

  • 2 sheets Puff Pastry
  • 2 1/4 tsp Powdered gelatin, , unflavored
  • Ā¼ c Warm water
  • 2 c Heavy Cream
  • 4 Tbsp Powdered sugar
  • 10 oz Lemon Curd
  • 1 c Strawberries
  • 1 c Blueberries
  • 1 c Blackberries
  • 1 c Raspberries
  1. Preheat oven to 425F.
  2. Lay thawed puff pastry sheet on a floured surface and roll it out into a 12x 12 inch square.
  3. Cut the square into three 12 inch x 4 inch strips and prick them all over with a fork.
  4. Place the puff pastry strips on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  5. Repeat for second puff pastry sheet.
  6. Cover dough with plastic wrap and place back in refrigerator to chill for at least 20 minutes.
  7. Once chilled remove baking sheets from refrigerator and place in over.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes until the dough begins to turn golden brown then place another baking sheet directly on top of the dough and continue baking for another 6-7 minutes.
  9. Remove the top baking sheet and finish baking for 6-7 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
  10. Remove the puff pastry sheets from the oven and while they are still warm trim the edges of the puff pastry and cut the strips in half making each one 6 inches x 4 inches (approximately).
  11. Cool completely.

LEMON MOUSSE

  1. While the puff pastry cools make the lemon mousse.
  2. Fill a small bowl with the warm water and sprinkle the gelatin over it letting it dissolve.
  3. Whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks then add the powdered sugar and the gelatin.
  4. Continue to whip until it forms stiff peaks.
  5. Gently fold in the lemon curd mixing until it is fully incorporated.

ASSEMBLY

  1. You will use 3 puff pastry pieces for each Napoleon.
  2. Spread lemon mousse over the bottom piece making it about 1/2 inch thick. Top with the next piece and repeat.
  3. Top the third layer of puff pastry with lemon mousse and place on a baking sheet.
  4. Do this for all of the puff pastry and then place your 4 Napoleons in the refrigerator to firm up.
  5. Before serving top with fresh berries.
  6. Enjoy!

Baking Hacks:

  1. If your custard feels unreliable maybe knock down your layers to two instead of three, there’s no shame in modifying. Also, if you give zero shits about if it holds all three puff pastry layers then go for it! I had to bring this to a party and have it sit outside of the fridge for an hour or two so I was suspicious of the third layer.
  2. I cut the 6×4 inch puff pastry rectangles in half to make it a more manageable bite. The shape ended up being more square.
  3. Folding in the lemon curd knocked a bit of air out of the whipped cream, and I think it’s because the curd was stiff coming out of the jar. If I were to make it again I think I would scoop all of the curd out of the jar and into a separate bowl, stir the curd up so it gets fluffed (?) up and then fold into the whipping cream to keep it airy. If you try this idea, let me know if it makes a difference, I’m hopeful!
  4. If you’ve never decorated the tops of flimsy puff pastry layers with multiple pieces of fruit, give yourself grace. It’s not going to look IG cute your first go, and it’s okay šŸ˜‰

Is It Good?

And would I make it again? Not unless it was requested. No offense to the puff pastry but it’s a damn mess and a pain in the ass to assemble, lol.

Wait, why is it called Napoleon?

Per usual it depends on who you ask, but according to most it has nothing to do with the French conquerer. Instead, ā€œNapoleon translates into ā€œthousand leavesā€ for its many flaky layers of pastry surrounding its custard cream,” and you can read more about it here if you’re curious.

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Taste Testing Molten Cinnamon Rolls by Tasty

It’s Friday and time for another recipe you might want to try out this weekend…anything with molten in the title has to be good, right?

But first, a quick reminder Iā€™mĀ notĀ a food blogger. There will be no flour-dusted cutting board photos in-between hefty paragraphs filled with adjectives. The word foodie sends an awful noise of nails on a chalkboard down my spine.

I only want to share the recipe and what I learned when baking or cooking it for the first time. The act of making food for others is how I show love, and itā€™s my fun time. Trying to make something for the first time is always exciting for me because you either nail it or you donā€™t.

Here we go:

THE RECIPE:

for 6 rolls

  • cinnamon roll dough, with icing
  • 8 oz

    cream cheese

  • Ā¼ cup

    granulated sugar

  • Ā½ teaspoon

    vanilla extract

  • Ā½ cup

    milk

  1. Preheat oven to 400Ā°F (200Ā°C)
  2. Take two cinnamon roll dough packs and press them flat into circles.
  3. For the filling: In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla, stirring until smooth.
  4. Add the milk and stir until there are no lumps.
  5. Freeze cream cheese mixture for about 1 hour until it sets and is frozen but not too hard.
  6. Scoop out a large spoonful of the mixture and place it in the center of one of the cinnamon roll dough circles. Fold the edges of the dough up the sides of the cream cheese scoop.
  7. Place the other flattened dough circle on top, using a spoon to tuck the edges underneath. Repeat with the remaining dough and cream cheese.
  8. Place the sealed dough balls upside down in a 9×9 (23×23) cake pan with the seams facing upwards.
  9. Bake for 20ā€“25 minutes until the rolls are golden brown and puffed. Drizzle the reserved icing on top of the rolls, and serve while warm.
  10. Enjoy!

MY FINDINGS:

  1. Don’t substitute almond milk for regular milk. It doesn’t mess with the taste of the cream cheese mixture but it does screw with the consistancy which makes it harder to handle when spreading it between the rolls.
  2. The tuck rule in step 7 is important. I forgot, and really wished I wouldn’t have…
  3. I used Philadelphia cream cheese, McCormick vanilla, Pillsbury (of course) cinnamon rolls, and Kroger sugar.

WOULD I MAKE IT AGAIN?

YES. The HUBS and everyone in the office who had the leftovers raved for more.

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Have you tried this recipe, too? What did you think about it? Tell in the comments, belowwwwwwww.

PSS: THE ORIGINAL RECIPE CAN BE FOUND HERE.
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