Banana muffin redo

This recipe isn't exactly new, but it is such a favorite of mine and such a staple in our home that I felt it warranted re-sharing: my mom's famous banana muffins!

I made a big batch last weekend and decided to mix things up a bit.  Into half of the batter, I stirred a heaping 1/2 cup of shredded coconut.  Into the other half, I stirred a generous 1/2 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Coconut = chewy sweet goodness!  Chocolate = ooooooobviously rich and decadent and amazing!

But don't limit yourself to chocolate and coconut.  Try some chopped walnuts or pistachios, maybe slivered almonds.  How about some drained and diced pineapple or apple?  Or you could throw caution to the wind and kick nutrition to the curb and add chopped Reese's cups?  I just.  Eee!  Chopped Reese's cups are so happening next time I make banana muffins.  TDF, for sure!

Click here for the recipe to make some for yourself.  I promise they'll cure any case of the Mondays you're dealing with :)

Classic beef lasagna

I've got a secret to tell you.  Ready?  Here goes:

I love to plan.

Surprised?  Most likely not :) It's said love of planning that can sometimes be a curse.  Sometimes I need to just go with it.  Fly by the seat of my pants.  Let the chips fall where they may.

This week, however, that planning of mine has paid off bigtime.  Last week, I was overcome with cravings for hearty fall foods and, warm humid September weather be damned, I decided to incorporate them into this week's menu.

Fast forward to Labor Day: rainy, chilly, dreary Monday that it was here in Pittsburgh, I didn't mind one bit... because I had a cheesy, piping hot lasagna in the oven waiting to meet its maker!  That maker being a cook who suddenly realized that her comfort food cravings were psychic visions.  Or some other kind of hoo-ha.

Fool-proof party tips!

Want to throw a party?  Perhaps an end of summer shindig or a birthday soiree to honor someone special.  Or just because you want to, no occasion required.  We actually had a party in college and titled it "Happy nothing party!"  Weren't we so clever?  Really it was just because the evite format wouldn't allow the field to be blank.  Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

Whether you're a novice or a hostess with the mostess, here are the absolute best pieces of advice I've ever heard about hosting your own party, specifically regarding the food. And, surprise surprise, these nuggets of wisdom come from my favorite famous hostess, The Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten.  She has such a knack for doing simple food really well, which I love!

1. Only make 2 dishes from scratch, but do them really well.

There's no need to sweat and fret over impressing your guests with a buffet full of only homemade snacks.  Sure, it may earn you a pat on the back or two, but I promise that it's not worth it to have every pan in your kitchen dirtied and yourself so pressed for time that you don't get to enjoy your own party.  Do two things really really well, and guests will appreciate the effort and enjoy your treats.  Need examples?  Try ham and swiss in puff pastry for savory, and homemade Oreos for sweet.

The world's best chocolate frosting

[my very own little almond cake]

Isn't that the most adorable little cake you've ever seen?  A mini cake, if you will, all for me.  And while I'm going to keep the cake recipe and finished product until tomorrow's post, this chocolate frosting recipe was meant to be shared with the world -- shouted from the rooftops.  Some icings and frostings can be a bit tedious to make, with all of the whisking of egg whites and room temperature butter.  (Mind you, they are all totally delicious and utterly worth every second of labor.)  But until I made this frosting, I had been under the impression that a great frosting takes great work.  Nope, no way, not this time, not this frosting.

This chocolate frosting recipe comes from, who else, the experts at Hershey's.  And, though they left out a few details (such as the oh-so-crucial sifting), the recipe is quick and easy.  How quick?  Melt the butter in a microwave quick.  How easy?  Whisk everything together by hand, no electric mixer needed easy (though if you wanted, you could certainly use it).  Just use cocoa powder rather than chopping and melting down chocolate easy.  The first two times I made this I used a whisk, but the last time I caved and used my beloved KitchenAid... hey, I doubled the recipe and my arms were a teensy bit sore from a new workout at the gym the previous day.  Cut me some slack... please?

I think you will when you taste this.  If you've ever had a problem exhibiting self-control with those store-bought cans of chocolate frosting, well, you haven't got a prayer with this stuff.  It's so creamy and chocolatey and makes you think you've never had real chocolate icing before this moment.  And it may be the reason behind my doubling of the recipe.  I had enough for the layer cake, my mini cake, and oh, a 1/2 cup extra to spoon feed to myself straight out of the bowl save for later.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Frosting
(from Hershey's website)
-makes roughly 2 cups

1 stick unsalted butter
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Stir in cocoa and whisk until completely dissolved (and no clumps of cocoa remain).  Add half of the powdered sugar, and whisk until no white remains.  Add milk, stir to incorporate, and add remaining sugar, again whisking until no white remains.  Stir in vanilla extract.

**Frosting too stiff?  Add milk one tablespoon at a time and stir until desired consistency for spreading is reached.

**Frosting too thin?  Add more powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

To level and frost your cake, check out this video.  Great visuals for an otherwise wordy process.  I'm a very visual learner, so I thought this would help.  For this particular cake (recipe coming up tomorrow), I wanted a more rustic homemade look, so I didn't level the cakes.  It's totally up to you.  After all, it will taste just as delicious flat or rounded :)

Pie crusts made simple

Before I get to the food, one thing -- saw Sherlock Holmes last night.  Ah-MAZING!  I highly recommend it!  The final choices were that and Up in the Air... yeah, I think we made the right choice.  But, has anyone seen the latter or any other good movie?  Thoughts?  Anywho...

When I wrote my quiche post over a month ago, it killed me just a little to write "pre-packaged pie crust" in the ingredients list.  I mostly did this to keep the post short and simple, but my heart was screaming, "But the homemade crust!  It's so easy!  Really, it won't scare them... come on, just include it, too!"  While pre-packaged pie crusts (say that three times fast) are super convenient, many people don't have them handy in the refrigerator, myself included.  And the idea of going to the grocery store just to get them when the whim to make a quiche/pie strikes sort of nulls the "convenient" part of it.  All you need to make a pie crust from scratch is butter, flour, salt, sugar, and water.  Uber convenient!

(What, you don't get baking whims?  Oh, you will.  Trust me.  For example, I usually fall asleep within 10 minutes of getting into bed.  But last night I was up for 45 minutes because I had a new idea for a cake and had to work through the details so I wouldn't forget when I woke up in the morning.  True story.)

Pate brisee (pronounced "paht bree-zay"), meaning "short pastry", is the fancy French term for pie crust dough .  This flaky and rich dough is used for sweet and savory crusts for dishes such as pies, tarts, and quiches.  If I could only pick one word of advice to keep in mind while making pie crusts from scratch, it would be C-O-L-D.  Every ingredient should be cold (pictures to follow).  I even cool the bowl I use.  (So, this is a great early morning substitute for coffee... you'd be surprised how going into the freezer a few times will get your blood pumping.)  The reason everything should be cold is because you want the fat (butter) to remain whole and not melt due to the warmth of your hands or the air.  When the pie crust bakes in the oven, water from the little beads of butter will evaporate and cause the pastry to puff up, making a really flaky and tender crust. 

I'm including directions for making the pie crusts by hand or with a food processor, because while the latter makes it even easier, it's almost as simple (and much more accessible to people) by hand.  Also, don't be intimidated by the vast amounts of text here.  If you haven't realized this by now, I'd rather give too many instructions than too little.  One thing that really bugged me when I started cooking was the lack of detail in recipes.  Imagine being told to make something for the first time without pictures!  Lame.  It's usually never as difficult as it seems, but the quality of teaching/directions can make all the difference in the world.  And now...

Pate Brisee
-makes enough for one 9" pie/quiche crust when rolled thin
(if you are making a two crust pie, double this recipe exactly)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar (if using for a pie crust, I'd recommend increasing to 1 tsp)
1 stick unsalted butter, diced into 1/2" pieces


By hand instructions:

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and salt together with fork or pastry blender.  On a small cutting board, dice butter into 1/2" pieces.  Place both bowl with flour mixture and board with butter in freezer for five minutes.  While they are chilling, fill a glass with water and ice cubes -- lots of ice cubes, because you want this water to be cold. 

After five minutes, remove flour and butter from freezer.  Add butter to flour mixture and "cut" into mixture, until the whole mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining (about the size of peas).

One tablespoon at a time (because you can always add more water if needed), add water to flour butter mixture by drizzling over the top.  Mix with pastry blender until the water is absorbed.  Add another tablespoon, and repeat process.  You want the dough to just stick together when a bit is squeezed between your fingers.  If the dough is still too crumbly, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Unroll plastic wrap to give you about a square foot of empty wrap on the counter.  Turn out the dough onto plastic wrap and shape into a flattened disk of dough.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.  The dough can be frozen up to 1 month -- thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Food processor instructions:
(Same tools needed, but replace the pastry blender and large bowl with a food processor.  I love that my mini food processor is perfect for this type of job.)

In the bowl of the food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar, and pulse together to mix evenly.  On a small cutting board, dice butter into 1/2" pieces. Place food processor bowl with flour mixture and board with butter in freezer for five minutes. While they are chilling, fill a glass with water and ice cubes -- lots of ice cubes, because you want this water to be cold.


Remove butter and flour from freezer after 5 minutes.  Add butter to bowl of food processor (now locked into the food processor base), add lid, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  By pulse, I mean use separate button-pushing motions rather than holding the button down all at once.  Try counting to ten and pulsing on each number.

With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube on the lid of the bowl in a slow and steady stream, just until the dough holds together when squeeze without being wet or sticky.  (If it does get too sticky, I'll show you how to correct this later.)  Do not process the dough mixture for more than 30 seconds.  If dough holds together when squeezed between your fingers, you're done!  If not, add a little more water, one tablespoon at a time.

Unroll plastic wrap to give you about a square foot of empty wrap on the counter. Turn out the dough onto plastic wrap and shape into a flattened disk of dough.  If it's a bit too wet and sticky, dust with a teaspoon of flour on the outside of the disk and pat together.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen up to 1 month -- thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.


See?  Easy!  With some detailed instructions and very few basic ingredients and tools, you can get a flaky pie or quiche crust that'll make you feel like a highly trained chef!

Cut-out sugar cookies

Do you ever have a day when you feel like are constantly reminding yourself to do this and that, and then realize you did none of those things?  Mm hmm.  Yesterday, I set my running shoes by my work bag while making French toast (yes, it was delicious) and said to myself, "Katy, you are wearing your boots to work today, since it's raining, when you normally walk in your sneakers.  Here are your sneakers.  Remember to take these so you can go to the gym after work."

After a decent work day, I changed into my gym clothes only to realize that I left my running shoes at home... right where I should've remembered them.   Boo!  This was the second day in a row that I skipped the gym for a stupid reason.  Two nights ago I went home and attempted to do an exercise video, but that was an utter failure -- this will be detailed more in the cinnamon bread post to come.  But last night, skipping the gym was a blessing in disguise.  Honestly, all I wanted to do was bake.  Some people nap, others indulge in vices, I fling sugar and flour around my kitchen like it's some culinary version of Jackson Pollock's work.  (Hey, it's therapeutic for me.)  And, luckily, the dough for these cookies was already chilled in the fridge.  It's like I know myself so well!

I'll be the first to admit that sugar cookies take a bit of work.  The mixing of ingredients is easy, but the chilling, rolling, cutting and careful watching of the oven turns some people off to the idea of making these from scratch.  It's then that I hear people resort to the greasy tasteless doughs in tubes or just-add-water packets.  Slather some icing on the cookies, and they are marginal at best.  But without the icing, they taste like cardboard, my friends.  Don't do it!  Take the time to make these and I promise you, you'll be glad you did.  You'll never go back to the cheap stuff.  This is another one of Martha's recipes, and if you like buttery-vanilla chewy sugar cookies, this is your recipe.  Just trust me, truuuuuuuuuust me. 

I hope I've given you the courage to make sugar cookies from scratch.  Seriously, don't be scared.  It's not that hard.  Just requires a little patience... and crap, if I can do it, you can, too!


The Absolute Best Sugar Cookies in the Entire Universe
(from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, her title may differ slightly)
 -depending on shape, makes about 3 dozen cookies

1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1½ tsp salt
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
colored sanding sugar or sprinkles, for decorating (optional)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; mix on medium-high speed until combined. With mixer on low speed, add flour in two batches, mixing until just incorporated.

Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and pat into flattened rectangles; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.  (Note: Almost always, I make the dough one night, chill overnight, and bake the cookies the next day.  Keep in mind that the dough must be chilled before a batch of cookies can go into the oven, so allow for enough time... unless you want to be up until midnight making cookies, which, quite honestly, sounds like a great night to me!)

Remove dough from refrigerator in order to thaw a bit.  (This step is important or your dough will crack at first.  Don't worry, if you're impatient like me, the warmth of your hands and the rolling pin will soften the dough so it no longer cracks.)  Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle of the oven.  Line at at least two (or three if you have them) large baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one rectangle of dough to a scant ¼-inch thickness.  Using cookie cutters dipped in flour, cut out shapes. Using a small offset spatula, transfer shapes to prepared sheets, placing about 2 inches apart.

Chill one sheet in freezer or refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes.  (This may seem like an unnecessary step, but if you want evenly baked cookies, just do it.)  Set scraps aside.  Repeat process with remaining rectangle of dough and place shapes on second cookie sheet, chill. Gather all the scraps, and roll out again. Chill 15 minutes; cut out more shapes, and place on sheets.  (Using two sheets is great because when one is ready for the oven, the next is ready to go into the freezer.)

Decorate cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, if using, before baking. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden around the edges and slightly firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.

(Really REALLY watch the cookies here, unless you like them brown and crunchy... then, by all means, pay no attention at all.  I usually set my timer for 7 minutes, rotate the sheet, 7 minutes more, and check from there until they are at the color I desire.)  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.  I made these for a friend's Christmas party, so I plated them on disposable trays to take with me:

Quick tip #1 -- This dough can be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic and in a large resealable plastic bag, for up to three months (or at least I've only tested it this far). 

Quick tip #2 -- If you are really not into the shapes, roll the dough into a log, wrap in plastic. Whenever you want to bake cookies, let log sit out at room temperature for 10 minutes.  With a sharp knife, slice cookies and place onto cookie sheet to bake.  Easy!