If you know me I am a really friendly, easy going guy who loves baking and teaching others what knowledge that I can bestow on them. I may not know all the answers to every question that is asked but I am willing to go out of my way to learn the answers. In all of my time of cooking and baking I have been a very inquisitive person and I wanted to know the answers to many things. It is the teachers that take the time to teach and inform you of what you need to do and/or what you may or may not be doing correctly. I thank all of the people that have taught me and helped me grow in my culinary adventures. This is not a typical post that I normally will do since there is not a recipe that is going to follow. This is a blog that I want people to read and ask me some baking or cooking questions so I can help you all conquer the world of culinary skills and tackle baking dilemmas.
From novice to know how, I am signing off.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
For those that don't have ovens.
It came to my attention that there are a few people that may not have the luxury of an oven. Those people are still in luck. I am going to share some recipes for those that want to have some good desserts. There are a lot of desserts out there that are really delicious and they don't even have to be baked. Before we start there are a few things that will have to be bought, well most of the stuff, actually.
One dessert that everyone loves is chocolate. Am I right?? Chocolate can be tricky but if you do it right you can have the best desserts around. If you want to have some miniature desserts to just snack on then these truffles will suit you just fine. The truffle recipe is very simple and easy to do without a mixer and an oven.
OREO TRUFFLES (a classic)
1 container of Oreo's (any kind you like I prefer the originals)
1 package of Cream Cheese (pretty standard in the store in 8 ounce box)
1 package of chocolate chips
First you start out in finding a bowl that is microwave safe and take the cream cheese out of the foil package(which will catch on fire in the microwave) and nuke it for about 15 seconds. We are not looking for it to be melted we just want it to be softer. After it is softer, take about 20 or so cookies and crush them up over the cream cheese. Using a spoon or your hand proceed to mix them together adding more cookies if you need or want to. We want the mixture to be able to hold itself together when we form it in to balls or any shape that you want. You will need to find a pan or something that you can set all the truffles on. When you get all of the mixture made into shapes of your liking on the pan then find a sandwich bag or a gallon zip-lock bag or something similar and put about a hand full or more depending on the size of bag and zap it in the microwave for about 5 to 10 seconds. You will probably need to do it 3 to 5 times depending on the microwave wattage and how chips that you are trying to melt. We want the chips to be just melted. Once you have made it to this stage you will want to put those truffles that you made in the bag and coat or just cover the truffles. Then place them back on the pan that you had them on and let them cool or put them in your fridge until they turn dull in color or you can eat them right away like I do. Once they cool set them out for friends or hide them for yourself. Easy enough. Wasn't it.
DIRT PUDDING (Sounds gross but isn't)
1 package of Oreo's ( or the leftover ones from the truffles)
1 package of cream cheese
1 container of Whip Cream preferably not the metal can
1 package of chocolate chips ( or the leftovers)
This recipe will work better if you have a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer. Take half of the cream cheese or the whole thing depending on how much you want to make and mix it with the whip cream and whip it until it is light and airy. It will take a few minutes. Then take a BUNCH of Oreo's and crush them up and put it in the cream cheese mixture. Then take a spoon or a spatula and mix them together. The goal here is to make it look like dirt. The darker the better. After getting it done you can get creative in the vessel that you put it in. If you want to you can get a glass jar or vase(see-thru) or clear plastic and put all of that mixture in the vase and get some plastic flowers and stick them in it. So when the company comes and you head to their house for dinner you can tell them you are bringing dessert and when you get there they think you just brought flowers. Then surprise them after dinner with your dessert. If you are like me (a guy) and flowers are not your forte then you can get a number of different things like a brand new, washed small tool box and fill it with the pudding and add some plastic spoons in the top part of it. This is where creativity comes into play.
These recipes are something that you can do at home with kids and/ or without them so the mess is much less. There are other recipes that are out there and I just gave you these two to get you started and to let you know that I will do my best to help anyone that I can learn how to make desserts. If you like these or you have any questions leave me a post and I will give more recipes or answer your questions. From Novice to know-how I am signing off.
One dessert that everyone loves is chocolate. Am I right?? Chocolate can be tricky but if you do it right you can have the best desserts around. If you want to have some miniature desserts to just snack on then these truffles will suit you just fine. The truffle recipe is very simple and easy to do without a mixer and an oven.
OREO TRUFFLES (a classic)
1 container of Oreo's (any kind you like I prefer the originals)
1 package of Cream Cheese (pretty standard in the store in 8 ounce box)
1 package of chocolate chips
First you start out in finding a bowl that is microwave safe and take the cream cheese out of the foil package(which will catch on fire in the microwave) and nuke it for about 15 seconds. We are not looking for it to be melted we just want it to be softer. After it is softer, take about 20 or so cookies and crush them up over the cream cheese. Using a spoon or your hand proceed to mix them together adding more cookies if you need or want to. We want the mixture to be able to hold itself together when we form it in to balls or any shape that you want. You will need to find a pan or something that you can set all the truffles on. When you get all of the mixture made into shapes of your liking on the pan then find a sandwich bag or a gallon zip-lock bag or something similar and put about a hand full or more depending on the size of bag and zap it in the microwave for about 5 to 10 seconds. You will probably need to do it 3 to 5 times depending on the microwave wattage and how chips that you are trying to melt. We want the chips to be just melted. Once you have made it to this stage you will want to put those truffles that you made in the bag and coat or just cover the truffles. Then place them back on the pan that you had them on and let them cool or put them in your fridge until they turn dull in color or you can eat them right away like I do. Once they cool set them out for friends or hide them for yourself. Easy enough. Wasn't it.
DIRT PUDDING (Sounds gross but isn't)
1 package of Oreo's ( or the leftover ones from the truffles)
1 package of cream cheese
1 container of Whip Cream preferably not the metal can
1 package of chocolate chips ( or the leftovers)
This recipe will work better if you have a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer. Take half of the cream cheese or the whole thing depending on how much you want to make and mix it with the whip cream and whip it until it is light and airy. It will take a few minutes. Then take a BUNCH of Oreo's and crush them up and put it in the cream cheese mixture. Then take a spoon or a spatula and mix them together. The goal here is to make it look like dirt. The darker the better. After getting it done you can get creative in the vessel that you put it in. If you want to you can get a glass jar or vase(see-thru) or clear plastic and put all of that mixture in the vase and get some plastic flowers and stick them in it. So when the company comes and you head to their house for dinner you can tell them you are bringing dessert and when you get there they think you just brought flowers. Then surprise them after dinner with your dessert. If you are like me (a guy) and flowers are not your forte then you can get a number of different things like a brand new, washed small tool box and fill it with the pudding and add some plastic spoons in the top part of it. This is where creativity comes into play.
These recipes are something that you can do at home with kids and/ or without them so the mess is much less. There are other recipes that are out there and I just gave you these two to get you started and to let you know that I will do my best to help anyone that I can learn how to make desserts. If you like these or you have any questions leave me a post and I will give more recipes or answer your questions. From Novice to know-how I am signing off.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The beginning of something good!
The beginning is the most crucial step that there is. That step is getting the nerve up to trying to make.. well something sweet. I am here to help the people and myself to learn and understand that baking is pretty scientific in its nature, is really pretty easy once you start. The first steps are learning that there are many different flours and many different sugars as well as tons of other ingredients that differ from one dessert or sweet to another. The easiest one to start out with is All-Purpose flour and plain old sugar(or granulated sugar). The other things that will be needed will be some salt, baking powder, baking soda, butter (preferably unsalted, if you have salted it will be fine we will just have to modify the recipes just slightly) and some brown sugar and eggs. Those ingredients will make a multitude of many different desserts. The equipment that will be needed will be a stand mixer, or a hand mixer, a whisk, a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons. The one piece of equipment that you will need is built-in to you..your hands. With these tools and ingredients we can take on the world...well maybe just give them some sweets. Once you have all of that, then we can get started. I will give you all a recipe and I will let you all try it and then post and tell me what you thought of the recipe and maybe pictures.
Here it is:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks of butter(softened)
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of chocolate chips(any kind)
First and foremost preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Then in a medium bowl take all the ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) and mix them all up until all of it is incorporated. Not so hard so far is it? Then mix in your bag of chocolate chips. Once all of that is mixed together take any size spoon or if you have small ice cream scoops(like a one ounce scoop). Place around 6 to 10 depending on the size of the cookie sheet or pan that you are going to cook them on. Bake them for about 10-14 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are just turning brownish and firming up. When this happens you need to take them out. They will finish cooking on their own as they cool. Once they cool down eat up! Baking is easy! Just take your fear out of the recipe! Enjoy. Next post will include another recipe as well as answering question. From Novice to Know-how. I am signing off for today.
Here it is:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks of butter(softened)
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of chocolate chips(any kind)
First and foremost preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Then in a medium bowl take all the ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) and mix them all up until all of it is incorporated. Not so hard so far is it? Then mix in your bag of chocolate chips. Once all of that is mixed together take any size spoon or if you have small ice cream scoops(like a one ounce scoop). Place around 6 to 10 depending on the size of the cookie sheet or pan that you are going to cook them on. Bake them for about 10-14 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are just turning brownish and firming up. When this happens you need to take them out. They will finish cooking on their own as they cool. Once they cool down eat up! Baking is easy! Just take your fear out of the recipe! Enjoy. Next post will include another recipe as well as answering question. From Novice to Know-how. I am signing off for today.
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