A Grilling Snack

Sorry for the delay. Lots going on here. I'm going to be doing two wedding cakes, a going away cake (or maybe cupcakes!) and I've been sick.

Madness aside, I wanted to share a really good snack I discovered searching google images for bbq ideas.

Grilled Potato Slices

INGREDIENTS

Sliced Raw Potatoes
Olive Oil
Seasoning Salt (I used a garlic herb mix with extra garlic salt)

1. First slice the potatoes and place in a bowl.

2. Cover with enough olive oil just to coat and sprinkle on seasoning.

3. Place slices on the grill at a medium heat (if your grill does that) Once the potatoes start to brown, flip and finish grilling.

These were surprisingly good. I wasn't sure they'd make it to the blog but they were addictive! I dipped mine in a bit of ranch and served with burgers. The outside has a nice flavor and crisp and the inside is soft and creamy.

Delish! An easy side dish!

Cup.Cake

Sometimes you just need to treat yourself right? I agree. So after an annoying day at work I drove out to Royal Oak and picked up some cupcakes from a new place I found online Cup.Cake.

From top left, going clockwise: Brownie Cup with Lavender Icing, Banana Split, Creme Filled Chocolate and Blueberry with Rose Buttercream.

Everyday they have traditional flavors like Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream, Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream to name just a few. Everyday they also have four specialty cupcake flavors along with macaroons and whoopie pies!!! I still have to try those.

The even better part was when I ordered the lady behind the register saw my name badge and work scan card on my hip and said I got a 10% discount for wearing those... then she gave me this...

Buy a dozen cupcakes and get one free!! Who doesn't love FREE!

As for the cupcakes, my BF and I split them all. My favorite was the Blueberry with Rose Buttercream. Something about it was so fresh! He LOVED the Banana Split and almost didn't share! The banana cupcake was so moist!

Want more info... or directions?! Check them out at www.cupdotcake.com or you can friend them on Facebook too! I did!

Chewy S'more Granola Bars

I love these! And even better, my BF, who won't eat granola bars, LOVES these!!

These are quick and easy and soooo tasty!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups plain granola
1 cup rice cereal
2 TBS graham cracker crumbs
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. First, melt butter and honey together over low/med heat.

2. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.

3. Take liquid off heat and add in granola, cereal and crumbs. Stir until coated.

4. Next, add in the marshmallows and fold in.

5. Press mix into a 9x13 un-greased pan. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and press in with a spatula.

6. Put in the fridge or on the counter until cooled and ready to cut. I swear these were easy to get out of the pan. They fell right out! Cut and eat!

Here is the original recipe with some other versions too!!

Graduation Cookies

I spent all day working on these! They were fun (and stressful) to make since I had not done grad cookies before. Trying a new design and such small writing was nerve wracking!

The customer (hehe!) wanted three dozen cookies for her son's graduation from high school. We talked and settled on grad caps, diplomas and footballs since he was an athlete.

I used two blues, slightly different shades, to separate the top of the hat from the bottom.

A little blurry I know... I'm an amateur. Still cute. Though the peaks annoy me.

And my fav... the footballs!

Blue Cheese Burgers

Please pardon my uneven cheese, but these were amazing burgers. Sometimes a burger is just a burger and I was tired of having just burgers so... I had half a tub of blue cheese crumbles left in the fridge along with some onions and mushrooms... oh yes... Delish!

INGREDIENTS (4 burgers... though I halved this since I'm the only one who would eat blue cheese)

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
Salt and Pepper
4 hamburger buns

1 cup of sliced onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
(use this as a rough guideline... I love mushrooms so I used way more mushrooms than this but I know others love onions so... decide for yourself!)

1. First mix the ground beef and egg well. Separate into four portions then each portion in half (think top and bottom)

2. Mix blue cheese, cream cheese and add in salt and pepper to taste.

3. Flatten into a disk all of the portions of burger. In half of them, spread the cheese mix in the center leaving space all the way around to pinch closed.

4. Place another "disk" on top of the filled patties and pinch the edges closed.

5. Grill! I used a medium heat setting and it took probably 6 minutes or so on each side.

6. While my burgers were on the grill I sauteed up some onions. Just place in a pan with about a tablespoon of butter. Once they start to brown, add in the mushrooms until they all appear browned and the onions are soft.

I obviously love mushrooms more than onion! :)

Put the onion mixture on top of your burger and enjoy!!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th everyone! I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday!!

So, I really wanted to share these cookies I made... I found the recipe at The Cooking Photographer. I used my own sugar cookie recipe but kept most else the same.

The best part of these cookies is that the red and blue are flavored! I think I will call them... Very Berry Sugar Cookies!!!

INGREDIENTS

1 batch of cookie dough (chilled at least three hours if not overnight)
1 tablespoon cherry jello mix
1 tablespoon berry blue jello mix
Red food coloring
Blue food coloring

1. First, separate the cookie dough into three equal sized portions.

2. With one portion, add red food coloring (quite a bit... I added three drops concentrated gel and I wish I would have added a bit more!) as well as the cherry jello mix. Knead until the color is smooth through the dough. Set aside.

3. With the second portion, add the very berry jello mix and blue food coloring. Knead well and set aside.

4. Next, separate each dough ball into two... so now you have six balls of dough.

5. Now comes the fun part. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Press one dough color into the pan at a time. Layer so that you have six lines in the dough.

6. Freeze for at least a few hours. I froze mine overnight. Then pop out of the pan and slice like a loaf of bread. Slice each slice in half and place on a baking sheet.

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies for 9-12 minutes. My first few batches took about a minute or two longer than the last batches because they were more frozen than the last few. 

My BF loved these cookies. He took some to work but I'm not sure if he shared! 

Enjoy and happy 4th!!

My First Cookie Order

Just a quick update... I delivered my first cookie order yesterday. Baseballs and trophies with the team name on them!

I know, I need better lighting... but these are white with the outline and writing in burgandy (team colors). 

The best news though is that she loved them so much she passed on my name to her sister in law who needs cookies for a grad party. She also asked to sample a cupcake because she is a school principal who orders sheet cakes all the time from Sam's and isn't a fan!!! 

I hope this doesn't get too out of hand... I mean... I'd hate to have to quit my job and make baked goods all the time! lol