137/365

June 9th: Manizotti for dinner... I followed the recipe from the box with a couple of changes, the family enjoyed. It's pretty much pasta filled with mushroom and green onions (original recipe called for spinach) in a ton of ricotta cheese.

124/365: Death by chocolate

May 17th

So, yesterday was a rainy Sunday... actually, let me backtrack here by first explaining my untested recipe stash. In my daily wanderings on the internet I will often come across recipes that sound interesting enough to try, it is then that I print out the said recipe and stash it... literally

There is a designated place on my cookbook shelf for these slivers of paper, magazine rip outs, quickly scribbled notes.... Some recipes will sit in their spot gathering dust and wilting away for a looooong time but some tug at me, and refuse to leave my mind...

Yesterday, a rainy Sunday, was a perfect day to try one of these; between piles of laundry and episodes of True Blood season 1.

These little babies came from Pioneer Woman and let me tell you: the moment you take a first bite your mind will immediately start playing that -sweet mother of god- reaction you will sometimes see people in movies get. Seriously, I am not joking.

I think it has to do with the fact the the recipe doesn't use chocolate but cocoa that you melt with butter. I didn't use Hershey kisses though, as with most US chocolate I consider Hershey kisses to be an abomination that couldn't be further from chocolate. Instead of Kisses I used blueberries, I had some in my freezer.

I was afraid they might make the cupcakes soggy but no, it was pure perfection. I made mini cupcakes, a perfect bite size for this recipe, and put 3 blueberries in each. The blueberries created this amazing layer of freshness in the cupcakes, just absolutely perfect. I cannot wait to try this recipe with different fruits, blackberries maybe.

Oh, I also didn't have buttermilk so I used the milk with white vinegar trick... and no cream so I used butter to make the chocolate silky. I was fighting using corn syrup in the ganache but with a sad heart I have to admit that the difference in the gloss of the ganache is unmistakable between syrup and non- syrup cupcakes.

116/365: Where did I see it?

May 9th

Remember that mulberry tree photo? Well, the berries are ripe and taste really good! We picked some today to use in a fruit salad. Yum!

P.S. This is one of the rare occasions where I'm pleased with the unfocused quality of the photo.

114/365: Blue

May 7th

Meringues for the Teacher Appreciation Week, for Mika's daycare. I don't have a photo of the final product, but I did a platter of strawberries with the teal meringues in the middle.

I hope the teachers like it. I got the recipe from TomKat Studio. These were so easy to make I think I will use them for Mika's birthday party.

107/365: Samo za Zivu part 2

I feel like a disclaimer is needed here: it is not my intention to turn this into a cooking/ baking blog. This blogs' intention doesn't change, it is still a Project 365, daily photo diary first and foremost.

My reasons for baking are the same as for cooking 95% of our family meals at home. I want to make sure my kids eat the best they can, even when it comes to sweets.

Who is Ziva?

Ziva is a very good friend from Croatia who has been asking me to share some of the recipes I use for a while now. Since none of these were created by me, but were found online and tweaked through trial and error, I don't see a problem in sharing them (I will try to reference where I got them from when possible).

I hope this explains why recipes will show up here and there on the blog.

Onwards to my most favorite cookie EVER, no joke!

CHOCOLATE CUT- OUT COOKIES
I found these by literally googling "Chocolate Cutout cookies" and I cannot find the site I found them on, for the life of me....

11/2 CUP flour
3/4 CUP cocoa powder (unsweetened)
11/4 TS baking powder
1/8 TS salt
3/4 CUP butter/ shortening (I use shortening because I cannot successfully soften butter, without melting part of it )
2/3 cup brown sugar (in muffins, you could substitute brown sugar for honey, but I don't recommend it here)
1 egg

In a mixer bowl: cream shortening and sugar, beat in the egg. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly start adding to the mixer bowl. In the end, you will be left with an equally moistened mixture that will be on the dry side and not completely cohesive.

I really like playing with flavors so I will usually add a flavor to the original recipe before I start adding the dry ingredients. For these cookies I like adding orange extract, or raspberry: about 1 TBSP since you don't want to water the dough too much.

You will need to kneed it a bit for it to be cohesive. Split the dough into two equal parts, wrap into plastic wrap and refrigerate for AT LEAST 2 hours.

I usually don't have time enough to do this all in one go, so I will leave the dough in the fridge overnight; take it out the next day about 3 or 4 hours before I'm ready to start rolling it out. This dough does tend to break easily but trust me all the frustration is worth it in the end. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness, bake for 8 min at 375F.

Once the cookies cool I will usually melt some dark chocolate, spread over the cookies and add what I feel like on top, i.e. shredded coconut, almond slices..... play with it

104/365: Fresh

April 25th

African Blue Basil

This basil handles the Floridian sun a lot better, because the oil content is higher than in regular basil. I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised with it, none of that sagging wilting mess.... it is really doing well and I'm hoping it's going to continue like that for the rest of the summer.

101/365: Cuppy cakes:)

April 22nd

I've picked up these baking cups a while back and decide to use them this evening. I attempted to make filled cupcakes and they seem a success.

The cups are cute and have a potential to be striking but definitely cannot be used for actual baking. If I can find lime green ones I'll use them for Mika's birthday party.

Cupcakes are lemon, filled with blackberry jam and chocolate icing.

100/365: Golden treasure

Sticking to chamomile tea with honey today. The fever is gone, but I'm sticking to bed as much as possible.

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to go to work.

98/365: Good food!

April 19th

I'm not going to even pretend I have photos for the two days of weekend. We were really busy, Saturday Mika and I went to a Young Actors play; it was Blue's Clues scavenger Hunt and she really enjoyed it. Sunday, Mika and I went to a Snowhite's Tea Party held by Tallahassee Ballet and she had an absolute blast.

David and Jack were at the Brogan, enjoying the American Indian Art Exhibition. Overall, a very full, entertaining weekend. Unfortunately this means I sort of, kind of forgot to take a project picture :o I took a lot of photos just none really project worthy.

Today, I simply couldn't help myself: I had to take a photo of our beautiful dinner. I loved all the colors, even if my hands are completely red right now :D

On the menu: pasta with turkey and green onions, sated egg plant and Romaine/ beats salad. Yum! yum!

97/365

April 16th

Making dessert for dinner tonight, chocolate dipped strawberries. Yum!

Obviously, this was still the prep stage; on their way to the fridge for the chocolate to harden. They looked even nicer when served :)

94/365

April 13th

Decorative Chili Peppers

86/365: Oregano

85/365: Eggs

April 4th

84/365: Sweet things

April 3rd

This is part of why this weekend was so hectic... Spring cupcakes and cookies!
The cookies turned out rather well for my first attempt in decorating them this way, don't you think?

I also made some "flower cookies" for day care. Not sure why is Blogger posting this one vertically, when I 'm uploading it as a horizontal photo, oh well...