One Lovely Velvety Sunday

My sister Kim has an awesome oven in her kitchen. Last Sunday, we baked the most awesome cupcake, Red Velvet. It has a southern comfort to it, it's an eye-candy (because of the deep dark crimson batter) and the cream cheese frosting is divine.

Ingredients
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 ounces water
• 2 ounces red food coloring
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

cream cheese frosting:
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 cupcake cups or line with paper liners. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and blend well. Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to the butter mixture. Sift flour and salt togethr into this mixture. One at a time, add the following ingredients: buttermilk, vanilla, and water. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and the baking soda. Fold it into the cake batter. Make sure it's incorporated, but don't beat it. Pour the batter into the cupcake cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out of pan and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting: Blend together the following: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.

*WE SUBSTITUTED 1/2 CUP YOGHURT AND 1/2 CUP WHOLE MILK FOR THE BUTTERMILK.

What's more beautiful than bonding with your lovely sister and baking these red velvets? :)

Grow and Glow

Everyone shouldn't forget the 3 food groups. Go (carbs), Grow (proteins) and Glow (vitamins and minerals from green leafy vegetables and fruits). I loved learning about it when I was in gradeschool and I realized it's fun mixing these groups together when cooking.
But the best combination, for me that is, would be Grow and Glow. Can you imagine meat and fruit in one platter?
Consider the following for you next food adventure:
**Grilled chicken with sauteed ripe mangoes on top
**Roast beef baked with apple slices (it makes the meat tender)
**Meatballs with Gravy and cranberry jam or blueberry jam.
**Deep fried spicy chicken with mandarin oranges
**Steak with pitted prunes

Experiment with other meat and fruits. Believe me, the dish you will create will be heavenly. :)

The Cookie won't Crumble

Why? Because this is the perfect recipe for CHEWY Choco Chip Cookies. So Chewy you won't look for crumbly cookie once you tried this. The secret ingredient? ---> Cornstarch.

3/4 cup margarine or softened unsalted butter
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/4 sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (only if you're using butter)
LOTS of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream margarine and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and blend. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt (only if you are using butter). Add lots of yummy chocolate chips and stir them in!

Drop by tablespoon onto a greased baking sheet. If you want thick cookies, leave the dough mounded. If you prefer flatter cookies, press the dough gently into a disc.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. It is really important to bake the cookies until the edges are JUST turning brown. If you wait until the cookies are completely brown, they will be crispy!

There is another important step to achieving the ultimate soft, chewy cookie. Once the cookies are removed from the oven, let them cool slightly and then remove them from thebaking sheet. If they are left on the baking sheet to cool completely, they continue to cook and will become brittle. It is ideal to let them cool on a wire rack.

Pack them up for your kids or your friends!!! ENJOY!!!

For the Love of Curry

The smell of curry and coconut milk is so comforting. It conjures images of simmering pots and pans, clattering spoons and forks, and people enjoying a good meal. This recipe I created uses curry and another ingredient that is truly Filipino, Mango. Ripe Mangoes. Traditional Indian cuisine will use the green variety.

Chicken Curry with Ripe Mangoes

4 pcs chicken breast cut into cubes

1 C. Coconut Milk

2 tbsps fish sauce

pepper

2 tbsps curry powder (add more if you wish)

Long grain rice

1 C. Ripe mangoes diced

**Rice - When the rice is cooked, add a few teaspoons of curry powder and add half cup of the mango. Mix well.

**Chicken - Pan fry chicken

Add coconut milk, fish sauce and pepper.

Add curry last.

Make sure you let the sauce thicken before you take it out of the pan.

Top Chicken with mango before serving.

Try this recipe on a rainy day.

Simplicity is Yummy

I love Caramel Apples so much. I do not like those dipped in chocolate or rolled in nuts. I believe apples really go well with JUST Caramel. I love Caramel so much that I spell it with a capital "C". I also prefer them sliced, not skewered.

4 Granny Smith Apples (Sliced in quarters)

Half a package Kraft Caramel squares

1/2 cup of milk

nutmeg

cinnamon

A nice dessert plate

toothpicks

Just microwave the caramel squares and milk together for about 2 minutes. Stir in a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. Use toothpicks to dip the sliced apples in the caramel mixture. Place on a very nice dessert plate and let cool. You can also serve them warm, which in my opinion is heavenly.

Sahara Special

I made myself pasta the other day. The maid forgot to cook lunch. It's a mystery how sometimes she can miss two meals a day and still do her household chores. I get cranky when I miss a meal, therefore, I refuse to do anything.

I call this recipe The Sahara Special (Coz it's Hot!)

Spaghetti Noddles (I just grab half of the noodles from the package)

1 can Spanish style tuna chunks

1 cup Hot Pepper Jack Cheese

1/2 cup quick melting cheese

Spanish Paprika

salt and pepper

Italian tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes (I prefer crushed)

Just cook the spaghetti noodles as the directions say on the package and mix all the other ingredients. I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to put detailed cooking instructions. I microwaved the pasta with the 2 cheeses on top after the sauce has cooked.

I sat on our living room couch and watched CSI Miami. Now that's HOT.

Childhood Revisited

Soleil, my beautiful niece who speaks 1000 words per minute, asked me to make cupcakes for her 9th birthday. I veered away from the common buttercream frosting. So I used cream cheese instead. I had the colors I wanted in mind, Magenta and Emerald Green. I had a dozen of cheese cupcakes waiting for their glorious frosting.

Frosting:

1 block Cream Cheese

3 C. Powdered Sugar

half a tsp. Lemon Flavoring

Amazing food color

Rainbow Sprinkles

While looking at the small tubes of gel food coloring, she said she wants the frosting in bright colors. Specifically Purple, Yellow and Sky Blue. I told her the colors I had in mind. She said:

"But I want the colors to be happy."

I realized, jewel colors are not necessarily happy colors. Besides, it WAS HER BIRTHDAY.

True enough when I was frosting the cupcakes, I felt...Happy.