Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

Looking for a quick and easy dipping sauce? Look no further - this recipe takes all of 5 minutes to prepare, and it's delicious. I usually throw it together when I prepare my Crab Wontons, but you can use this Sweet and Sour Dipping sauce for anything from chicken nuggets to french fries!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 4 Tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp water

How to:

• Combine vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce in a small saucepan.
• Heat to a boil.
• Add cornstarch/water mixture while stirring. 

And that's all there is to it! The original recipe can be found here.

Crab Wontons

Growing up, I despised shellfish. This is weird, because I'm originally from Massachusetts, where everyone loves lobster. It's an unspoken rule that everyone from New England is supposed to love all things seafood. Not me. I thought that shellfish generally had an odd texture. Couldn't eat it without wanting to gag. Yep, I'm the weirdo that used to shudder at the thought of lobster, shrimp, and crab.

Then I moved to Maryland and met Jake. On one of our first dates, he decided to 'treat' me to some steamed jumbo crabs, smothered in Old Bay. You know, the way true Marylanders eat crab. It was too early in our relationship for me to break it to him that I wanted to vomit just looking at those bright red crabs sitting on the table, ready to be cracked open. I sucked it up and dug into those crabs. 

Needless to say, I didn't vomit. And wouldn't you know, 3 years later, I LOVE crab. I can honestly say I haven't tried lobster in about 10 years, but I'd be more willing to give it a whirl now. 

I found this recipe for baked Crab Wontons, and had to try it. It worked out perfectly, since I had some leftover wonton wrappers from the last time I made Lasagna Cupcakes. This recipe is a healthier version of those delicious crab rangoons you can get at any Chinese food restaurant. 

Ingredients:

•  wonton wrappers
• 2 Tbs ricotta cheese*
• 8 oz. soft cream cheese
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup crab meat, drained**
• glass or shallow container with some water

How to:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray generously with cooking spray.
• Combine ricotta, cream cheese, scallion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Mix until smooth.
• Fold in crab meat.
• Place a wonton wrapper on a working surface. Place 1-2 tsp of the crab mixture in the center of the wrapper.
•  Dip your finger into your water, and wet two adjacent sides to the wonton wrapper. 
• Fold the wonton wrapper up on itself so you form a triangle.
• Push the air out by pressing around the filling.
• Seal the sides together by pressing them together.
• Place crab wonton on prepared cookie sheet.
• Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and filling.
• Lightly spray the tops of the wonton wrappers with more cooking spray.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are browned. 

*The original recipe calls for sour cream, but I substituted ricotta, as I didn't have any sour cream on hand. I think my version came out pretty good! Alternatively, I believe mayonnaise would have also been a suitable alternative, if you don't have sour cream on hand. 

**I used a 4 oz. can of crabmeat, which you can find in the aisle with canned tuna fish. Ideally, I would have like to use fresh lump crab meat like a true Marylander, but I didn't have any. Blasphemous, I know.

I served these Crab Wontons with my Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce. They were delicious! The baked wonton wrappers are so light and crispy, and they taste SO good with the dipping sauce. These would make a hot great appetizer for any party!

The original recipe can be found here.

Enjoy!

Dutch Apple Pie

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! I have the PERFECT apple pie recipe for all of you who are looking for a fabulous dessert to bring to your Thanksgiving table. This recipe for Dutch Apple Pie is my absolute favorite. I found it last fall, when I was desperate to get rid of the remaining apples I had picked. No lie - I made this pie on 4 separate occasions last year, and I have made it twice this year already. It's that good!

Ingredients:

For filling:

• 1 pre-packaged pie crust, or your own
• 6 cups sliced apples
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs flour
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

For topping:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

How to:

•  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine all of the 'filling' ingredients. 
• Gently toss apples by turning them with a spatula until they are evenly coated.
• Pour coated apples into a 9 inch* prepared pie crust. 
• To make the topping, combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl and mix.
• Cut in butter and use a pastry blender or your hands (which work fabulously, I might add) to create the crumble topping. 
• Sprinkle crumbles over apples.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes. 20 minutes into cooking, turn your oven down to 350 degrees and continue cooking at this temperature. This will prevent your crust from getting too brown.

*Note: I've also used a 9.5 inch pie pan instead of a 9 inch pie pan, and this recipe still turned out just fine. It seems most pre-packaged pie crusts are 9 inches. I'm not sure if my 9.5 inch pie pan is abnormal, or most pie pans generally are slightly larger than pre-packaged pie crusts.

I kid you not, this will be the best apple pie you've ever eaten. I don't like a lot of crust, which may be why I love this recipe so much. The crumble topping is amazing!

I followed this recipe exactly as it's written by Krissy (who happens to be a friend of mine!). Her suggestions are right on. You should also click through her blog - she has some really great recipes!

Cheesy Chewy Pizza Bread

If there's one thing Jake loves, it's pizza. That man eats pizza more than anyone I know. WAY more than anyone I know. He's been going to the same pizza place his whole life, because Maria's Carryout makes (in his words) the best cheese pizza. I've tried to get him to order pizza with different toppings - pepperoni, sausage, pineapple - anything. But nope, Jake insists on his perfect pizza, with a precise cheese to sauce to crust ratio. In his defense, Maria's really does have phenomenal pizza. I just don't want to it pizza nearly as frequently as Jake does.

So what to do? I know Jake loves pizza, but I don't want to spend cash on it every week. I can't keep eating that many greasy calories (although the ingredients in a slice of pizza do span quite a few food groups...) when I have to fit into a wedding dress in a few months. Because let's face it - who can only eat 1 piece of pizza? Not me.

I came across this recipe a couple years ago. It's sort of a mix between regular pizza and a deep dish pizza (although I've never been to Chicago and have not tasted authentic deep dish). Jake likes this pizza version enough, that sometimes it's a suitable alternative to his beloved cheese pizza from Maria's. I take that as a huge compliment. 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup beer (regular or non-alcoholic)
• 1/2 cup tomato pasta sauce
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• toppings (if desired)
• chopped fresh basil (if desired)

How to:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 
• Stir in beer (I use a fork to mix) until flour is just moistened. 
• Spread dough into pan.
• Spread sauce on dough.
• Sprinkle with cheese and toppings.
• Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
• Top with basil.
• Cut and serve.

Substitutions:

• You can substitute the beer in this recipe with any fizzy beverage. I used orange soda once when I was in a pinch, and it still came out yummy! I wouldn't recommend a stout or other dark or heavy beer, unless you really want the flavor of the beer to come through in the flavor of the "crust."
• Although I haven't tried it, I imagine this recipe would be excellent with whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose flour.

Aside from this dish being a less greasy version of regular pizza, it's super fast and easy to make. It's usually one of those dishes I prepare after working a 10 hour day, when I come home practically dying of hunger (like today!). It's ready in no time and is always a satisfying dish! 

This recipe is found in Party Food: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook (Betty Crocker)

Enjoy!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Just like my recipe for Lasagna Cupcakes, this recipe provides all the delicious taste of a classic lasagna, but in individual portion sizes. These Spinach Lasagna Rolls are definitely a crowd pleaser, and best of all, they're much healthier than traditional lasagna. They're a great dish if you're looking to incorporate some healthy spinach into your diet - which for me, is not an easy feat. 

Ingredients:

• 9 lasagna noodles
• 10 oz. frozen spinach - thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese (I used low fat)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used a 1/4 cup freshly grated cheese, and 1/4 cup of the good old Kraft kind in the green container)
• 1 egg
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 24 oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce




• 9 Tbs grated mozzarella cheese

How to:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook lasagna noodles according to the package.
• Spoon some marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish - it just need to be enough to lightly cover the bottom.
• In a bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, cheese, egg, salt and pepper.
• Lay out lasagna noodles on a piece of wax paper, and dry noodles.
• Note: I dried my noodles by just dabbing them with paper towels. There's probably a better way to do this, but it worked fine for me! 
• Take 1/3 cup of the ricotta-spinach mixture and spread it over a noodle. 
• Starting from 1 end, carefully roll up the lasagna noodle and place seam side down in the baking dish.

•  Repeat with the remaining 8 lasagna noodles.
• Spoon some marinara over the tops of the noodles.
• Top each noodle with 1 Tbs of mozzarella cheese.
• Cover in foil and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cheese is nice and melted.

I usually serve my Spinach Lasagna Rolls with some extra marinara sauce. This dish reheats really well, which is great if you have leftovers. I can't promise that you will, though!

The original recipe can be found here.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

We've all been there - you buy a whole bunch of bananas, and you don't get around to eating all of them before they turn that gross brown color. A few years ago, a friend clued me in that you can freeze bananas you aren't going to eat before they spoil, rather than throwing them in the garbage, and you can then use them later. So, I started freezing all my almost spoiled bananas, and wouldn't you know, now I have a freezer full of them (slight exaggeration). 

Well, I figured the best thing to make with very ripe bananas is banana bread. I actually thawed 4 of my frozen bananas and used them in this recipe. I love the way this bread turned out. It's perfectly moist, and the chopped walnuts give this bread excellent texture.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (I used 4 bananas)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

How to:

• Arrange oven rack in a lower position so the top of your bread will be positioned in the center of your oven.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease the bottoms of two small loaf pans, or 1 large loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar.
• Stir in eggs until well blended. 
• Add bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
• Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until just moistened. 
• Fold in nuts, if desired.
• Pour into pans.
• Bake for about 1 hour (small loaf pans), or for about 1 hour, 15 minutes (large loaf pan), or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. 
• Cool 10 minutes.
• Transfer loaves to wire rack and allow to cool completely (about 2 hours) before slicing.

I must say, I've tried my fair share of banana bread recipes, and this is one of my favorites. I think the buttermilk in this recipe sets this one above others I've tried. I hope you all like the end product as much as I did!

Cheesy Corn Cakes

Jake and I had our friends over to watch the Ravens game today, and I knew I had to try out this recipe for Cheesy Corn Cakes when our friends said they were bringing chili over. It's just one of those perfect fall days - there's a chill in the air, and chili is the perfect dish to warm you up. Why not pair it with some cornbread?

Here's the original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups stone ground yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 cups freshly grated pepperjack cheese (I grated the cheese so 1 cup was finely shredded, and the other cup was regularly shredded)
• butter (for greasing griddle)

How to:

• Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and honey.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined - do not overmix!
• Fold in the grated cheese.
• Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat and grease with butter.
• Scoop (I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup) some of your mixture onto the hot griddle. Using a spatula, press down the mixture so it lays flat like a pancake.
• Note: spray the back of your spatula with cooking spray so it doesn't stick to the corn cake.
• Once brown, flip cake, and brown on other side. 
• Repeat process with remaining batter.

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can add 1 Tbsp white vinegar to 1 1/4 cup milk, and let it stand for 10 minutes.

I popped one of these Corn Cakes right on top of my chili. The chili wasn't super spicy, so the pepperjack cheese of the Corn Cake really added a nice kick to the dish. Everyone seemed to like this addition to the chili! I'm anxious to try these with a nice bowl of beef stew as well. 

The website I found this recipe initially says these cakes keep well. Her instructions for reheating say to nuke a cold Corn Cake in the microwave for ~30 seconds. If frozen, heat on 50% power for 1 minute, and then in 20-30 second intervals until hot. 

Enjoy!

DIY: Floating Necklace

You know what I love? Jewelry. You know what I hate? Spending money on it. Does anyone like spending $20+ on a necklace when the materials to make it cost a fraction of that? I don't. So, as a beginner jewelry maker, I decided to take on this seemingly simple project: a floating necklace. 

I bought a necklace like this a few years ago, because I liked how delicate it looked. I bought larger beads than the ones in my purchased necklace, because I wanted to play around with the look a little. This is how I duplicated one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. Oh, and I apologize for the quality of the above photo! It came out really grainy.

Materials:

• jewelry board
• bead stringing wire
• 18 beads (I used glass pearls, which you can purchase at any craft store)
• 36 #1 crimp tubes
• 2 #3 crimp beads
• 1 clasp
• flat jewelry pliers
• crimping tool

How to:

• Cut 3 pieces of stringing wire: a 25 inch piece, a 23.5 inch piece, and a 22 inch piece.
• Lay the 25 inch piece of wire in one of the jewelry board channels.
• Thread a crimp tube, a bead, and another tube onto the wire. Repeat this process 6 more times, so you have tube, bead, tube, tube, bead, tube, etc. You should have a total of 7 beads and 14 crimp tubes on your 25 inch piece of wire when you're done.
• Center the 4th bead at position '0' on the jewelry board. 
• Using your flat jewelry pliers, crimp the tubes on either side of the center bead, securing it in place.
• Spread the remaining 6 beads evenly on each side, and crimp the tubes as you did for the center bead.

• Lay the 23.5 inch beading wire in the next board channel.
• Thread 6 beads and 12 crimp tubes onto this wire, as you did previously (tube, bead, tube, tube, bead, tube, etc.).
• Position the beads in the spaces between those on the 25 inch piece of wire so they are staggered relative to the beads on the first strand. Crimp the tubes to secure the beads in place.
• Lay the 22 inch beading wire in the final board channel. 
• Thread 5 beads and 10 crimp tubes onto the wire as done previously.
• Line these beads up with those on the 25 inch wire, and secure by crimping the tubes.

• Hold the three ends of one side of the necklace and thread them through a #3 crimp bead.
• Then, thread the ends through the loop of the clasp and back through the crimp bead to attach the clasp to the necklace.
• Using your crimping tool, crimp the crimp #3 bead. Trim excess wire.
• Repeat these steps on the other side to attach the other piece of the clasp.

And that is how you make a floating necklace! If you look closely, you can see that I used 12 large glass pearls and 6 medium-sized glass pearls. The 6 smaller ones were used as the top beads on each side of each strand. You can, of course, adjust the number of beads and/or length of the necklace to your liking.