Sweet Potato Casserole - no marshmallows!

After years of eating the sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top, I finally learned something. I don’t like it (Yes, I’m a slow learner). I think sweet potatoes just have such a deliciate sweetness by itself that the added marshmallow PLUS sugar in all the recipes I’ve seen, is just too much. Don’t get me wrong, when we go camping, Mike would wrap a cooked sweet potato with a couple of marshmallows and throw it into the fire and this tasty dish really gives s’mores a run for it’s money, but that’s entirely different post…

Back to this, I still wanted to have sweet potatoes on the menu so I decided to try this one from the Pioneer Woman. No marshmallows…just a crispy and crunchy streusel on top. You can never go wrong with streusel! Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 4 whole Medium Sweet Potatoes
• 1 cup Sugar (I cut it by half...I don't like it too sweet.)
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Pecans
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 3/4 sticks Butter

Preparation Instructions

Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-35 minutes. When they are finished cooking slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl.
Add 1 cup of (regular grandulated) sugar, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of salt. With a potato masher, mash them up just enough—you don’t want to be perfectly smooth.
Now, in a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup pecans, chopped (that means measure a cup of pecans, then chop them), ½ cup flour, and ¾ stick of butter. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined.
Spread the sweet potato mixture into a regular baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

Its that time of year again-- NFL season. Although hubby likes the typical little smokies in a blanket or wrapped in bacon and brown sugar, I thought I would take advantage of this snack-filled time and try other finger foods.

These bread bowls are a little too froo-froo for football, but they're super cute and very tasty, and my favorite-- VERY easy! The recipe says it makes 10, but I would go ahead and make 12 and fill a whole muffin pan.


Ingredients

• 13.3 oz roll of refrigerated french bread loaf, I used Simply Pillsbury
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 3 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup light sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ancho Chile Pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Garlic Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Sicilian Sea Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 10 muffin cups with non stick cooking spray.  Unroll package of french bread loaf and slice into 10 equal size slices, about 1 inch thick.  Press each slice into about a 3 inch round, I did this by pressing in between my hands.  Press into the bottom and up sides of the muffin cup.  Set aside.

2.  Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir spinach until wilted, about 3 minutes then add garlic, cook and stir for another minute then turn heat off.

3.  Place cream cheese, sour cream, cooked spinach and garlic, Parmesan Cheese, Ancho Chili Powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a medium bowl.  Mix until well combined.  With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dip into each of the centers of bread bowls.  Top evenly with shredded cheese and bake for 15-17 minutes until just turning brown on edges.  Remove and let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from oven.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Oh wonderful Pinterest. How I love thee! I've been doing a lot of pinning of things that just look delicious, and I figured it was time to start trying some of these recipes. This recipe definitely did not disappoint. I think it needs a little more of a pumpkin punch, but I don't know how to tweak the recipe without ruining its perfect, soft consistency. I baked a batch about 40 mins after chilling and the next batch after chilling overnight, and both turned out delicious!


For the cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the coating:
1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until fully incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner. Mix the coating ingredients in a small bowl. Scoop equal dough balls and roll into the sugar mixture. Set on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat drinking glass into water, then into the sugar mixture and use to slightly flatten the dough balls. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My neighbor gave me some fresh rhubarb and I decided to make something with it. I never had rhubarb in my life so I decided on something I've heard of before - strawberry rhubarb pie. I had no experience with rhubarb, so I ended up looking up how big I should chop it even. It was fun. I decided I was too lazy to make my own pie crust so I bought the frozen pre-made dough at Trader Joe's. It's awesome - pretty close to homemade and the ingredients list was a lot more natural that they stuff they sell at Ralph's. Mike was a fan. We whipped up some fresh whipped cream and indulged!

Ingredients

•     1 cup white sugar
•     1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•     1 pound fresh rhubarb, chopped
•     2 pints fresh strawberries
•     1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
•     2 tablespoons butter
•     1 egg yolk
•     2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.     In a large bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add strawberries and chopped rhubarb. Toss with sugar and flour and let stand for 30 minutes.
3.     Pour filling into pie crust. Dot top with butter, and cover with top crust. Seal edges of top and bottom crust with water.
4.     Apply yolk to top of pie, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut small holes in top to let steam escape.
5.     Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown. Cool on rack.

Pie Tips

• Definitely let the mixture from step 2 above stand for at least 30 minutes. You will see the fruit absorb all that flour and sugar.
• Try brushing the bottle of the pie crust w/ egg before putting the fruit mixture in. This will help it from getting too soggy.
• After the pie is done, turn off the oven and leave it in there for 20 minutes to avoid a runny pie. This will help it dry out and gel up...if that makes sense.
• Take out the pie and cool on a rack completely before cutting into it.

Crispy Baked Flautas

I'm always a little skeptical when a recipe is a healthy version of something I shamefully enjoy. I took a chance on it, and what do you know? It actually tastes good! Eric confirmed it (and he hates anything labeled "low fat"... each flauta is a little over 150 calories!).

I made the chicken and the spinach filling ahead of time and I just roll and bake when I'm ready to eat! I tweaked the original ingredients a little, but the great thing about this is that you really can fill the flautas with anything you want! 

Ingredients

-1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken breasts

-1 can chicken stock

-2 cups Water

-1 teaspoon Paprika

-1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

-1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

-1 teaspoon ground Cumin

-1 teaspoon Chili Powder

-2 tablespoon chopped jalepenos (I used the pickled kind)

-3 cups Baby Spinach, chopped

-5 burrito-size Flour Tortillas (9 inches)

-6 ounces Queso Quesadilla or other melting cheese, shredded

-1 tablespoon Olive Oil, or cooking spray

Directions

-Preheat the oven to 450*F.

-Put the chicken in a deep sided saute pan and cover with the beer and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it. Mix together the chicken and seasonings.

-Pour out all but 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the jalapeno and spinach and cook over low heat until for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.

-Cut the tortillas in half. Spoon 1/10th of the chicken (about 1 tablespoon) along the long edge of a tortilla. Repeat with the spinach and cheese. Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

-Brush the flautas with olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake for until 10 minutes, or until crispy (I baked for 7 mins on each side and it was plenty crispy). 

Serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole. Enjoy!!

Tres Leches Cake

Ingredients
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
⅓ cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
¼ cups Heavy Cream

FOR THE ICING:
1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

Source w/ step-by-step pictures at The Pioneer Woman

Enchilada Casserole

Enchilada Casserole

I got this recipe from my brother and modified it to suit my taste.  It is a hefty dinner item and recipe makes enough for about 12-15 servings.

Ingredients

• 1 28 oz can of hot enchilada sauce
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 jalapeno with seeds and veins removed; finely diced
• 1 tbsp + 1 cup (for garnish) chopped cilantro
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 package of white corn tortillas
• 1 15.5 oz can of black beans rinsed and drained
• 1 15.25 oz can of corn drained
• 1 large brown onion diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper diced
•  1 large bag of shredded Kraft Mexican cheese
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp  garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt 
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Cotija cheese for garnish

Directions

• Preheat oven at 325 degrees.
• Mix chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper into ground turkey and until mixed.
• Saute onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno until soft.  Set aside.
• Brown ground turkey until just cooked and remove from heat.  Mix turkey with sauteed onion and bell pepper with 1 tbsp cilantro.
• Mix tomato pasted and enchilada sauce and heat over medium heat until thoroughly mixed and just before mixture boils.
• In a dutch oven, add a ladle the enchilada mixture to the bottom.  Add a layer of corn tortillas, black beans, corn, turkey mixture, cheese, and enchilada mixture.  Repeat for about 5-7 layers.  
• Top final layer with corn tortillas ad cover with the remaining enchilada mixture covering all tortillas.  Top with a final of cheese.
• Put lid on dutch oven and put into oven.
• Bake for 1 hour and lower the temperature to 300 and bake for another hour.
• Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Cut into individual servings and top with cilantro and sprinkle with Cotija cheese.

Horchata

Had Mexican one night and we had to have some Horchata to wash everything down.  I adapted this reciped from Lola's Horchata recipe (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lolas-horchata/), but made a few modifications to suit my taste.  The Horchata turned out delicious; not too sweet with the taste of cinnamon.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked white short grain rice
5 cups water
1/2 cup milk (I used lowfat 1% milk, but your can use whole milk for a richer taste)
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions

• Pour the rice, cinnamon, and water into a blender; blend until the rice breaks up, about 1 minute. Let mixture stand at room temperature for a minimum of 3 hours.  (I left mine at room temperature for 2 hours and then in the refrigerator overnight).
• Strain the rice water into a pitcher and discard the rice. (I strained mine first using a wire strainer to remove the rice, and then again with a cheese clothe in the strainer to remove the remaining sediment)
• Stir the milk, vanilla, and sugar into the rice water until sugar is dissolved.
• Chill and stir before serving over ice.

French Yogurt Cake

Got this straight out of Bon Appetit and it is a yummy cake. I convinced Thi to make it and she did. Not too sweet with a slight hint of lemon.
(Bon Appetit May 2012)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon zest, finely grated
3/4 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a standard (8 1/2 x 4 1/4") loaf pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour; tap out excess.
Whisk 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, and 3/4 tsp. kosher salt in a medium bowl.
Using your fingers, rub 1 cup sugar with 1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest in a large bowl until sugar is moist.
Add 3/4 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract; whisk to blend.
Fold in dry ingredients just to blend.
Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top.
Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.
Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
Invert onto rack; let cool completely.


DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead.  Store airtight at room temperature.

Chi's Banana Muffins

I loved this recipe and so does the kids! Applesauce and yogurt makes this so moist and makes you feel it's healthy too! I only had nonfat Greek yogurt at home and it worked out fine. (I halved this recipe and got 23 standard muffins. I also omitted the nuts)

Ingredients:

3½ Cups flour
2.5 Cups sugar (I used half brown sugar and half white sugar)
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Teaspoon baking soda
2 Sticks butter (softened)
½ Cup of applesauce
½ Cup of plain yogurt
4 Eggs
1 Teaspoon vanilla
5 Tablespoons of butter milk
*Substitution: 1 Cup of a milk and lemon (1 whole) mix
1½ Cup nuts of choice (optional)
5 Bananas or 2 Cups (mashed up)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all wet ingredients except bananas in a large bowl.
Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients in portions. When the batter is all mixed
up, fold in mashed bananas.
Pour into muffin pan and bake at about 20 minutes or until
toothpick comes out clean. Or you can bake in a loaf for about an hour.

Waffles

To make these easy on me in the morning, I mixed all the dry ingredients the night before and just added the wet in the morning. Easy, fluffy, delicious. And if your waffle iron makes little hearts, that's just a bonus!

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I always make SMBC and wanted to try good ol' American buttercream some time. This is delicious! Taste like the chocolate frosting you get from a box but 100000 times better. Very easy to make, I don't see why anybody needs to buy frosting out of a box anymore. This frosting is also very pipable. I opted not to this time to keep it looking homemade.

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!)
3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer.

Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter.

Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes.

If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

Source: Savory Sweet Life

Moist Yellow Cupcakes (from scratch)

I rarely bake from scratch...it's one of those things I really want to do, but never have the courage or time to do it. I decided to start testing recipes to find the ones I like. I like this one very much. It's a yellow butter cake that is moist and tender. I didn't have real buttermilk on hand, so I made some with lemon juice and low-fat milk. I think if I had real buttermilk, this recipe would be even moister. It was pretty easy to put together and the batter came out silky and beautiful!

I got 36 cupcakes out of this recipe:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk , well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two standard muffin pans with cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill cupcake pans 2/3 full, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 16 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Snickerdoodles

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I've been trying to actively try the recipes/crafts I pin otherwise I'm just pinning for nothing! This is a real great recipe. The snickerdoodles comes out soft and chewy. And it's always a plus when it was easy to make!

makes 16-20 cookies

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for dipping

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. Lightly press down on dough to flatten it. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to try this Award Winning chocolate chip cookie recipe I found on allrecipes.com but I really feel uneasy about a recipe that calls for instant pudding mix. When it comes to cookies, I like to use whatever I have and I don't know about you, but I never have instant pudding mix on hand. Plus, since having the kids, I'm trying to move away from using cake mixes after I found out they have hydrogenated oils in them and trying start cooking from scratch (When I do use cake mixes though, Trader Joe's has one with no trans fat and is delicious...I used it for the pistachio cupcakes I made for Bao's birthday).

Anyways these cookies were fun to make since the kids helped me. I didn't have to refrigerate the dough and it still came out super puffy and a little cakey. I'm guessing from the baking powder. I'm not one for cakey cookies but the kids like it and I cut the sugar a little bit because of the addition of M&Ms. Since Valentine's day is coming up, we went with a cute Valentine's edition of M&Ms that only had red, white and pink M&Ms in the bag. Unfortunately, a lot of these ended up in the kids mouth right before bedtime. I hope these as much as they do! Enjoy!

Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 3/4 Cup sugar
• 1 Cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons pure vanilla
• 3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 oz bag chocolate chips
• 1 bag M&M’s (you’ll have some left over) & various sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until well beaten. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Place flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl; mix.

Slowly add to wet ingredients until combined. Hand mix in chocolate chips. Do not mix in M&M’s or sprinkles in with the batter – they go on last.

Drop down by the teaspoon onto a parchment lined cookie pan, than press M&M’s or sprinkles onto the top of each cookie and bake.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges are golden but the middle may be soft still.

Cool in pan for about 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Pistachio Cake w/ Pistachio Swiss Meringue Buttercream

For Bao's birthday, she requested pistachio cupcakes with pistachio swiss meringue buttercream. We've made the buttercream before but I don't remember making a cake. I found a good one on Allrecipes.com and copied it down below. The batter is really runny but it actually rises fine. I even used leftover batter in my Babycakes Cake Pops Maker and it was perfect.

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
7 drops green food coloring (I omitted this and it was still pretty green)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
In a large bowl mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, water, oil, almond extract and green food coloring. Blend ingredients, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
Pour into prepared 10 inch tube pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes (16-18 minutes for cupcakes), or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

We made this for Bao's birthday and it was a hit. Delicious and creamy and most importantly, easy to make!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temp
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (half Jack, half cheddar cheese)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapenos
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapeno, diced
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Preparation:
In a food processor, add the first 7 ingredients and process until smooth. You do not need to drain either can of peppers. Dice the 2nd can of jalapenos and hand mix into the dip. Spread the dip into a greased 2-quart casserole. In a bowl, mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and melted butter; mix well. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes. You want the top to get browned and the dip to be heated through and bubble gently on the edges.

Do not over cook this dish or the mayonnaise with separate and you will have a grease puddle in your dip. Serve with Buttery crackers or a sliced French baguette.

Banh Chung Chien (Paula Dean Style)

This is really not a recipe, but more of a epiphany. As any good 'ol Vietnamese (or in my case a Chinese whole really appreciates Vietnamese food) knows, banh chung is good, but when you chien it, it gets that much better. Now, if you are able to kick up the chien'ing (Americanized verb tense of a Vietnamese word) process, even better. For this, we can take inspiration from Paula Dean, then queen of adding butter to everything. Using butter to chien the banh chung gives it an additional layer of flavor that

Makes 5 servings (about 4 slices per person)

Ingredients

• 1 5x5 square banh chung (preferably one made by Thi's Ba Noi) sliced into 1/4 in thick slices
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/8 cup cu cai (pickled diakon and carrots) drained
• Sriracha to taste

Directions

1. Using a 12 in skillet, heat butter over medium-high until it stops bubbling
2. Add 4-5 slices to skillet. Cook until golden brown and then turn each slice over and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown.
3. Plate each 3-4 slices topped with the cu cai and Sriracha.

P.S. Thi is going to attempt her own Banh Chung recipe next Tet so stay tune.