Recipe | Heart Brownies

I have been making these brownies for years. The brownies are always a hit where ever I go: to a party, the office, or just at home. Not only are they delicious, they have the cutest design; perfect for Valentine's (or Galentine's) Day!

This recipe is the best for lazy winter days (& lazy bakers haha), because the recipe is essentially one bowl. Say good bye to the usual 5-bowl, sticky, chocolatey mess you're used to cleaning up and say 'hello' to free time lounging and munching on these delicious brownies.

Fun fact, the MF made me that heart cookie cutter. I was in a rush, and didn't have a heart cookie cutter. When I made my way to the usual stores, they all somehow sold out of theirs or had ridiculously huge ones. MF decided to make it into a hands on project! It's not store bought, but it's sincerely one of my favorite items in the world. I use it constantly, and it means so much to me, because MF made it for me so I could spread the love (& chocolate)!

Opposites Attract

The Ingredients        (source: Smitten Kitchen)      Yields 32 brownies         3 ounces chocolate, semisweet and good                   white chocolate, coarsely chopped         1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter,                   plus extra for greasing pan         3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar         2 large eggs         1 teaspoon vanilla         1/4 teaspoon table salt         2/3 cup all-purpose flour         1 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter Note: Use good white chocolate. Avoid using white morsels or white baking chips. They contain less cocoa butter making it harder to melt into a smooth mixture (ref).

The Instructions Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 8x8-inch square pan with foil, then butter foil. Melt the white or semisweet chocolate with the butter in a large bowl over a pot of simmering water or microwave in 30 second bursts. When it's 90% melted, remove it from heat and stir until your mixture is smooth. Whisk one egg in at a time, then add vanilla. Mix flour and salt together, then stir until just combined. Spread into square pan and bake for 20 minutes (semisweet chocolate) and 25 minutes (white chocolate). Repeat steps 2-5 for other chocolate with second pan. Cool pans on wire rack, then transfer to the freezer if making cut-outs. Frozen brownies yield cleaner cuts. Once brownies are frozen solid, transfer to cutting board and cut each pan into 16 squares, each about 2x2 inches. Slowly, press the cookie cutter into the center of each brownie, and then set aside the cut-out. Insert white chocolate hearts into semisweet brownie centers, and vice versa with semisweet hearts. Let brownies warm to room temperature, and serve!

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Recipe | Wine Gummies

I'm a new Pinterest user, technically. I signed up a few months ago, but boy am I regretful about not using it earlier! There are so many visually appealing recipes and DIYs. That's how I found this recipe! It's a simple enough recipe, but I made a change here or there to really perfect it and keep as much alcohol content in the fruit snacks as possible ;)

It's technically not considered day drinking, right?

The original recipe suggested everything be combined in a saucepan. I tried that the first time, and could barely taste the alcohol with a Pinot Noir. Also I wasn't too enthused about a huge saucepan completely covered in sticky gelatin. I looked up a few YouTube videos, and found a culinary chef who put the gummy mixture in a glass measuring cup and heat it in a pot of simmering water to avoid burning it. I tried this, and the wine flavor was extremely pronounced in that batch! (aka we barely reduced the alcohol content ;D ).

If you use molds, which I did the 5th time making these, the measuring cup can directly pour your mixture into the molds, and be one less sticky mess to clean! Also if you have foam form, it isn't bad, but not visually pretty to give people so just skim it off the top.

Gummy love

The Ingredients        (source: Thrive Style)         4 tablespoons gelatin         1 cup wine         (I suggest Pinot Noir or Riesling)         1 teaspoon sugar         2-4 tablespoons maple syrup Note: The amount of maple syrup used is dependent on how sweet you want your gummies.

The Instructions Combine gelatin and wine in a glass measuring cup, and let sit for 5 minutes to activate the gelatin. Put glass measuring cup in pot of simmering water and stir slowly until gelatin mixture is smooth. Once smooth, add in the remaining ingredients and stir. When everything is dissolved, pour your mixture into a 8x8 pan for square cut gummies or molds if being given as a gift. Let cool completely (approx. 3-4 hours). You can pop them in the fridge for the cool down to speed up the process.

If you want to bring them to a party or to work (I won't tell!), don't worry about them melting. The longer you wait, the firmer the gummy gets. They might sweat after you take them out of the fridge, so be sure to let them dry. Now go and spread the joy!


ATTENTION ALL WINE GUMMY ENTHUSIASTS
EDIT: (3/13/2015) Have any of you tried sugar coating your wine gummies? I have, and failed. The sugar melted and turned into a huge sugary puddle. The gummy was still intact, just sticky. From the my extensive research (hands on and via the internet), I think I may have an answer as to why wine gummies cannot be sugar coated like lemon drops. The real culprit is how you make the gummies. To retain as much alcohol content in the wine gummies, you cook the gelatin mixture at low heat, however the excess water content reacts to the sugar when you coat it. If you don't mind sacrificing the alcohol content, simmer/boil your mixture for 10 minutes (even longer if you're worried just remember to continually stir). It'll be hot, so let it cool a bit before pouring into your molds, and then you're good to go! I hope this helps you. It's not very scientific. Just a blogger making a huge mess and a ton of candy in her kitchen :)

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Recipe | Hot Chocolate DIY Gift

Disproportionate amount of marshamallows? I think not!

I love Smitten Kitchen.
I think I've said this many times. Deb Perelman is amazing. She started her blog, because she DIDN'T know anything about cooking or baking. It was a way for her to teach herself. Most of all, I love that she steers clear of one-time use ingredients, because she thinks you can yield the same results with what you already have in your pantry.

She recently posted this recipe, and I hesitated.

I love hot chocolate, but always saw cocoa from a box or packet clump. If I wanted clumps, I'd rewatch Nutty Professor II: The Klumps! But I trust Deb. Every recipe I've tried of hers, I've loved, and it's never let down (that woman is freakishly amazing) so I gave it a go. It also seemed like an ideal gift to send to friends and family through the mail so win-win :)

Unlike others, I don't own a food processor so I had to grate the chocolate to ensure it would disperse evenly and get that powdery texture. Unfortunately, in the winter, the grating made the chocolate have a negative charge and attach to me instead of going into the bowl. I used the sugar's weight to hold down the chocolate gratings.

To top it off, I whipped up a simple way to gift wrap this delicious hot chocolate mix to give to friends and coworkers this season! It's a great gift to give as it is rich, but not overly sweet.

Just get any type of glass jar (mason jar, milk bottle) and fill it to the top. After you cap it, take some paper and jute and wrap the top. I handmade a little tag with "instructions" to go with the hot chocolate not pictured here. Now who wouldn't want to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold wintery day?

The Ingredients        (source: Smitten Kitchen)         3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate,             grated if you don't have a food processor             roughly chopped if you do         ½ cup granulated sugar         ½ cup cocoa powder         1 tablespoon cornstarch         ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract         ¼ teaspoon salt

The Instructions If you have a food processor: Rough chop chocolate. Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until powdery. No food processor? No problem. Grate chocolate as fine as you can get it. Stir in remaining ingredients.

To use:

1. Heat one cup of milk (almond, soy, whatever tickles your fancy) in a saucepan over medium heat until steamy.
2. Add 3 tablespoons (or more!) of hot cocoa mix.
3. Whisk over heat for another minute or two until it begins to simmer and mix has completely dissolved.
4. Pour into mug, top with marshmallows, and enjoy :)

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One Bowl Series | Blondies swirled with Nutella

I decided to try a mini series on my baking days. I absolutely love baking, but sometimes I'd like the luxury of not washing half my kitchen tools after one recipe! Then I remembered Deb of Smitten Kitchen doing one bowl recipes, and thought let me challenge myself. It'll be a fun experiment to test my creativity so just stick with me, and I'll try to make it worth your while :)

Ok, the original recipe actually called for peanut butter chips in this blondie. Problem is I'm not really a blondie person, so I needed some chocolate to motivate aka add chocolate chips. When I have time (and the ability to remember to buy peanut butter chips), I definitely have to try it with peanut butter chips! Maybe even some fluff o___o it'll taste just like a s'more... I'm concocting things already in my head! I even have a Halloween inspired recipe in the works! Just for you guys :)

The Ingredients        (source: Averie Cooks)    The Blondie         ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted         1 large egg         1 cup light brown sugar, packed         1 tablespoon vanilla extract         1 cup all-purpose flour         1 cup chocolate chips           (or peanut butter chips!)    The Swirl         1/3 cup Nutella

The Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-by-8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Melt the butter in 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring in between. Let cool before proceeding. Add egg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add flour. Stir until just combined. Add in chocolate/peanut butter chips. Pour batter out onto baking pan, and smooth with spatula. Add Nutella to the batter and swirl into a marble pattern. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

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Recipe | Screw Redbull, I'll give you wings.

Football season has started.  Although the flurry of drafting picks has passed, the manfriend is highly invested in watching his players' games as he is participating in  four  leagues (he's currently in 1st (x2) and 3rd (x2)!).  It has become a Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night ritual of watching football. I could sulk about the half a week I lose the manfriend to 200 pound, sweaty men piling up on top of each other or I could have some fun with it.

I chose the latter.

I decided to make the ultimate football night finger food, chicken wings. I've always wanted to make wings, and the manfriend said he made them before. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember the specifics of what he did, so we winged it.

(HA! get it? the pun? Ah, these are the moments I live for)

This recipe would have taken less than an hour if it weren't for the fact that we're an Asian household and BBQ sauce is optional in life. But I was too determined and too hungry (and craving it like a pregnant woman) to be stopped from achieving my dream of wings for Sunday night football. We threw some soy sauce into a pot, dumped some sugar in there, and basically kept taste testing the sauce and adjusting it.

These babies look so good...

Wish I had more...good thing I bought two bags of chicken wings!

The Ingredients        (source: winged it)    The Wings         1 bag chicken wings         5 cups oil            (or more depending on your pot)    The Sauce         ½ cup BBQ sauce of your choosing         OR         ½ cup soy sauce         4 tablespoons sugar         corn starch (to thicken soy sauce)

The Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat oil in a pot for frying. When oil is hot enough, put chicken wings in one at a time to avoid lowering the oil's temperature. Once the wings looked golden brown, set them aside on a plate with a paper towel. Heat soy sauce and sugar in a small pot. Add corn starch to water, then add it to the sauce pot. Turn off heat when sauce has thickened. Line wings on a lined baking tray and brush sauce on. Flip wings over, and coat other side. Bake for 10 minutes and then enjoy!

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Recipe | Say goodbye to your diet

These are the main players to create this ridiculously good, almost illegally good banana pudding.

That's right. Only FIVE ingredients.

After you've had a taste of this, every time after you'll want to just throw everything together as soon as possible, because you can't stand the anticipation. But before you go throwing things together like a mad woman, remember to have the water and condensed milk ready or else the pudding will congeal before you get to mix it!

These are the culprits of the fluffy pudding: vanilla pudding made with condensed milk and whipped cream.

Ah, this clutz of a chef may have walked away for too long before she remembered the whipped cream so the whipped cream you see here is over-whipped. I guess you can use this as a "don't do this" example. Luckily for this recipe, it doesn't matter as much nor does it affect the texture too much.

Meet their love child: on the most wanted list (according to my thighs)

Ok, in retrospect, I should have made this loop endlessly, because if you were kind enough to read everything before this, this might have stopped playing. It's a GIF of my assembly process. Please reload, and forgive your terrible blogger. She will learn, she promises.

Ahh...the final product. The dessert to end all cravings. One dessert to rule them all.

Warning: For some reason, every time I make this recipe, I make more than the specified 9 x 13 baking pan. I usually have enough for two pans. I think my pudding to everything else ratio is off, but just in case you have the same problem as me, buy more than 4 bananas (I used 5), and have more than one box of Nilla wafers on hand (you can snack while you work without worry now ;D ).

The Ingredients        (source: Amateur Gourmet)      2/3 cup instant vanilla pudding mix      1 ½ cup water         (you can use less if you want)      1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk      3 cups heavy cream      1 box Nilla wafers      4 bananas         (the browner, the better!)

The Instructions Whisk the instant vanilla pudding mix, water, and sweetened condensed milk together. Let sit for 15 minutes. Put heavy cream in a mixing bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into pudding mixture slowly. Arrange Nilla wafers along the bottom of your dish. Slice up the brown bananas and arrange on top of Nilla wafers. Top with pudding mixture. Shake it a bit to ensure the pudding gets into all the cracks and crevices. Repeat steps 4-6 again. Crush some Nilla wafers until they’re a powder and sprinkle over the finished pudding. Enjoy!

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Recipe | Call me cheesy

I love cheese. No, wait. That's an understatement. Cheese has been a loyal friend throughout my life. Spicing up boring dinners, bringing comfort food to a whole nother level, just always there for me. The least I could do was learn a little bit about where he/she came from.

In actuality, I had gotten an email from Williams Sonoma about the clearance sale, and I couldn't resist going through it. I bought the queso fresco package, and loved it. Then I saw there was a mozzarella/ricotta set, and immediately bought it. I didn't know I needed it in my life until that very moment. I am so glad we met.

Boil everything you use including the cheesecloth to ensure no additional bacteria is introduced to the cheese making process.

This kit is actually prepared by another company called Urban Cheese Craft. They are an amazing group. They have a website that has a ton of tutorials by way of photos or videos. I know I used the Trouble/Tips section, or as I'd like to call it the "Omg, I spent way too many hours trying to make this, please save my butt before I have rotten cheese smell all over the house." If you're interested in their products or just checking them out, this is their website (here) and they also have an etsy store (here).

I made a point to take this photo, because when I was making the cheese, the thermometer stopped rising after awhile. I didn't understand it until I realized that the thermometer must have been stuck in the cheese after it coagulated. In the two times I made mozzarella, I noticed that around the time it hits a good temp, the cheese separates from the pot. When you see that, take the thermometer out, and place it in the crack to measure the pot's temperature. This will help ensure you don't overcook the cheese, and ruin your beautiful cheese baby.

It doesn't look like much, but it tastes RIDICULOUSLY good. I already bought these cute cheese trays that help keep cheese fresh for longer. I've already made mozzarella with basil, pepper flakes, and thyme. I can't wait to make more as gifts during the holidays!

The Ingredients        (source: Urbancheesecraft)      Crust:      1 gallon of milk      1 ½ tsp  citric acid      ¼  rennet tablet      1 tsp cheese salt or to taste      herbs  (optional)      Supplies:      Large pot (at least 6 quart)      Butter muslin (fine cheesecloth)      Colander      Large slotted spoon      Thermometer      Microwaveable bowl      Rubber gloves (or large spoon)      Yield:      1 ½ lb

The Instructions Dissolve ¼ rennet tablet into 1 cup of cool, chlorine-free water. Stir and set aside. Wrap the remaining pieces of tablet and store in the freezer. Mix 1 ½ teaspoons citric acid and 1 cup of cool, chlorine-free water until dissolved. Pour 1 gallon of milk into your pot. Pour the citric acid solution in and stir thoroughly. Heat to 90°F, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. At 90°F slowly stir in the rennet solution for approximately 20 seconds. Continue to heat to 105°F (110°F if you will use the water bath). Your curds could already show clear signs of coagulation- as the temperature increases to 105df, the curd can start to look like shiny yogurt with a clear separation between curds and whey when a spoon or knife is slipped in. Ladle your curds into a microwave or heat-resistant bowl, and put on your rubber gloves. Gently fold the curds over several times and evenly distribute the heat. Drain off any released whey into the pot. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Drain again and knead the curd gently- try stretching. It must be 135°F to stretch properly. If it isn’t hot enough, microwave for another 30 seconds. Add your salt (I like 1.5 tsp or so) plus any herbs and work into the cheese. Mix it in by stretching and folding about 10 times. Stretch the cheese until it is smooth and shiny. Shape into a ball or whatever shape your heart desires.

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