Creamy Asparagus Soup (that is awesome even if you don’t like asparagus)

In less than 24 hours we will be on a plane to Jamaica, suckers! <—that sassyness right there is an ode to my future  6 year-old niece whose adorable self screamed “SUCKERS!” while doing a ballet jump across a hallway in her pj’s for no reason. 

For those of you who are not aware (aka everyone except my mom who reads this blog, HI MOM! LOVE YOU!) I have not been nowheres, travel-wise. Technically, I have been to Canada – but when it’s Windsor, Canada and you’re from Michigan that absolutely does not count. So this Jamaica trip is a big deal and I get to use my passport for the first time! Yay!

Also, the concept of “All Inclusive” is totally amazing to me. Granted I’m sure that this won’t be like, 3 star michelin restaurants (even if they were we’ll prob be too many pina coladas deep to handle something like that, SORRY MOM!), but the idea of just not paying for stuff directly is awesome.

And for all you poor souls that are stuck in cold weather, I figured that I would give you another soup (yes, this is like, my umpteenth soup on here but I don’t care because I LOVE SOUP) – Creamy Asparagus Soup to be exact. Michael looooves asparagus and, surprise surprise, I’m not the biggest fan. I find that I can consume more veggies in soup form so I thought, why not?

This recipe comes from some guy named Emeril. J/K guys, I know who he is – and he ain’t famous for no reason! This soup is amazing. Check it…

What you will need:

  • 2 large bunches of asparagus
  • 8 cups chicken stock (two boxes is perfect)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup minced shallots
  • 1 cup minced leeks, whites only, well rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup light cream
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan
  • 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan for garnish

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Step 1: Wash Asparagus and Leeks

I had never worked with leeks before this endeavor  In fact, I was so unfamiliar with them in their natural state that I thought they were related to potatoes…. Anyway, these babies are filled with dirt! When I started washing them and peeling back the little green layers I was met with mud! Gross! Not expected, leeks. So yeah- wash your leeks and the asparagus nice and good.

Step 2: Heat Your Stock

In a large pot, pour the 8 cups of chicken stock and heat until it boils. Put ice in a bowl of water and let chill.

While this is happening, move on to Step 3!

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Step 3: Get the Stock Going

There are 3 different parts to the asparagus that you will use. You will use the “woody stems” – Emeril Lagasse, folks - for the stock, the main part for the cooking and pureein’ and the florettes for a garnish/texture.

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These are the woody stems that you need to cut off.

Cut the rest of the asparagus into the two remaining parts.

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Put the woody stems aside (to the right here) then chop the middle parts and put them also to the side, as well as the florettes, seen above the woody stems.

When the stock comes to a boil, add the woody stems to it and let them simmer for 20-30 minutes, that way we can infuse the stock with extra asparagus flavor.

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While the stems are simmering, move on to step 4.

As you can see, when the stems are done infusing, just strain them out and toss the stems.

Step 4: Prep the Rest of the Veggies

Chop the shallots! Shallots are awesome because they are like mini condensed onions.

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Very powerful flavor and they will BURN YOUR EYES OUT!

And guess what is not in the potato family but is in the onion family? That’s right friends, the Sneaky Leek! Which also burns your eyes out! Gah! To combat this horrible situation, I am proactive and wear snowboard goggles. For real. This is not for comedic effect and it does work. 

You will only want to use the white part of the leek, fyi. Mince it!

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Next chop yo garlic.

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You wanna know what’s crazy – I can’t tell if these are Michael’s fingers in this picture. How sad is that?

Step 5: Blanch the Florettes

In my last post we learned about blanching. Superfancy!

We want to blanch the florettes to make the a little tender. You can use the florettes simply as a garnish for the end, but because this soup is pureed we actually mixes some in just to add texture.

After you remove the stems from the stock, just place the florettes in there for about 3 minutes and then strain them out and into the bowl of ice water.

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Step 6: Cook the Veggies

After you’ve strained the broth of both stems and florettes, just keep the broth on low while you do this step.

First, melt the butter slowly and steadily in another pot.

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Next add the shallots and leeks and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute (“until fragrant” according to Emeril, “dont’ burn it!” according to me).

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Next add the rest of the asparagus that you haven’t used yet, the “middle stems” if you will. And also add the salt and pepper. Cook for a little bit, about 3 minutes again.

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Step 7: Soup Makin’ Time!

After all your veggies have cooked for about 10 minutes total (I’m talking, start of shallots to end of asparagus), you want to add them to the stock and crank up the heat!

Simmer for about 30 minutes until the stalks are very tender. 

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Once tender, remove from heat and using My Favorite Kitchen Tool, aka an emulsion blender (you can use a regular blender too) blend the soup into it’s creamy form. This is also the time you want to add cream – but honestly, that’s your prerogative because the emulsion blender makes it creamy to begin with. We also sprinkled about 1/2 a cup of parmesan in there too. 

I think you could make this a vegan soup by omitting the butter, cheese and replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock…but I’m not vegan and I like cream and butter so we shall never know.

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And there you have it!!

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This soup is so incredibly satisfying and delicious. A parmesan crostini would be a great addition as a side to dip but we found that putting the florettes in the soup added a nice crunch that was healthier. I also don’t think I used as much cream as Emeril suggested and ALSO, because I’m on a hot sauce kick, this was actually really good with a splash of hot sauce added to it.

Enjoy!!

*RADMAGICLOVE*

Cauliflower and Feta Fritters c/o Smitten Kitchen!

Happy Friday, friends!

This month/next month is so fun for Michael and I! Next week we’re going to Jamaica for one of my very close girlfriends wedding and I COULD. NOT. BE. MORE. EXCITED! I’m in the wedding and she did this fantastic thing where she gave us a color and told us to pick a dress that was in the same color family and that we felt most beautiful in. How sweet is that!? Genius…I may have to steal the idea.

After that we are heading to Winter Park, CO for some snowboarding action! This will be my first time snowboarding on a real, live, Colorado mountain and I’m praying that I don’t get hurt. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, because of these big trips I’m going to try to write ahead like a good blogger should. BLOGGING! It takes time, people.

OK so continuing on from last week, I have another Smitten Kitchen treat that is so easy and so delicious and can be frozen and eaten later. How rad is that? I’ve gotten into a horrible habit of making too much and Michael is not a fan of leftovers, but frozen-to-be-reheated-to-its-original-form is not really a leftover, per se…

Moving on! Today we are making Smitten Kitchen’s Cauliflower Feta Fritters – the name alone sounds tasty and as we all know, I am not a fan of veggies, so I’m always trying to find new ways to consume them that don’t gross me out. I will admit, I kinda slacked a bit on this recipe because I didn’t make her Smokey Yogurt and Pomegranate. The worst part is, I HAD pomegranate…I was just that lazy.

What you will need:

  • 1  head Cauliflower 
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 1 tablespoon Lemon Pepper
  • 1/2 cup Feta
  • 1/2 cup  Flour
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons Olive Oil 

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Can you see the Smitten Kitchen cook book poking though??

Step 1: Chop and Boil Your Cauliflower

Put salt into water, bring to a boil. Put ice in a bowl with water and let chill….literally and figuratively.

For this recipe, you only want to use the florettes (which is great bc that is all I like) – so you will chop the Cauliflower into 1-2 inch florettes so they cook at a nice pace.

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Put the florettes in simmering water and cook for about 5 minutes until tender.

As your cauliflower boils move on to step 2!

Step 2: Mince Garlic and get your dry and wet mixtures together

Michael and I have a LOT of kitchen stuff, but this is probably one of the most fun. This, my friends, is a Joseph & Joseph Garlic Rocker and it’s great! Sometimes, I don’t have time to gingerly mince garlic the way I want, so when Michael saw this he knew I would love it.

Just peel the garlic, cut off the ends and smush it!!

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So great!

Ok so put one egg, the garlic and the lemon pepper in a bowl and mix. This is your “wet” mix.

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In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper and baking powder together. This is your “dry” mix.

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Step 3: Dry you cauliflower, mash ‘n’ mix it!

After 5 or so minutes in the simmering water, drain the cauliflower and put it in the ice water so it stops cooking (this is called “Blanching” y’all! fancy!), drain it again then attempt to dry it off as much as you can – I used paper towel.

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Add the cauliflower to the egg mixture and smush it around with a potato smasher. The florettes should turn into little chunks and you want to totally incorporate the egg mix with the florettes.

Next, add the feta to the cauliflower and egg. Use the masher again to fully incorporate.

Sprinkle the mixture with the dry mix and combine again.

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Step 4: Form and fry your fritters!

First, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a medium sized pan until it’s sizzling (sprinkle some water in the oil and if it sizzles, you’re good to go).

You can form the fritters any way you like, but for me – I used my hands! I just grabbed a handful, pressed it into a little ball and then put the ball in the pan and smushed it down a little to make it more flat.

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Sort of like how you would make a slider?

Cook for about 3 minutes until the brown-ness of your desire, flip and cook the other side.

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I was able to make around 14 of them, which was awesome. I currently have 1/2 in my freezer and just thinking about them makes me want to go home and eat them. They are crunchy and soft, the feta adds a really great flavor and the cauiliflowr foes stay in tact too.

In the end, they will look like this:

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While delicious by themselves, a sauce would definitely work wonders with these. Even just plain Hot Sauce could add a whole new twist to them, so be adventurous! These are great for a party as an app, or can be a unique side to any dinner. These are reminiscent of potato pancakes, but are definitely more fun.

Happy Eating!

*RADMAGICLOVE*

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (aka, Buckeyes)

Hello, friends!!

When I was leaving my office before the holiday I had oh so many aspirations for the blog. I was going to start 2013 off with beauty product reviews, a craft or two, cool stuff lists, music mixes and of course recipes – but alas, it has not been so.

Getting engaged has made me literally spend all my time collecting “inspiration” and trying to narrow down potential venues – which is not easy when you and your fiance are from two different states, met in a third state, and now live in a fourth. ANSWER ME THAT THEKNOT.COM! Plus I have a real job too. We also have not had a single weekend alone since we got engaged. Last weekend was literally the first – so of course we spent it makin’ foods!

Anyway because it’s Valentines week, I give you a tasty chocolate candy treat and a cute, lovey anecdote to go with it.

Michael and I are HUGE HUGE fans of Smitten Kitchen, which is essentially one of the greatest food blogs ever. When we lived in New York with a tiny kitchen, this blog was so special to us as a couple in a little kitchen trying to make delicious food. Deb Perelman makes anything seem possible (food-wise) and is just a wonderful lady who I hope to know personally one day and she will make me soup! Goals! We love this site so much that when her cook book came out I pre-ordered it!

Anyway, so the other day Michael saw these Buckeyeys on the site and drooled all over our iPad, so I told him I would make them asap. I’m not calling them Buckeyes, because I’m a Michigan girl, damnit! So we will call them Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. These are way easy, a little messy and NO BAKE!! That’s what’s up!

My recipe is a combination of Deb’s and the traditional kind. Deb uses Cream Cheese, it apparently gives them a tangy taste. I knew Michael wouldn’t like that so I omitted it. Traditional versions use vanilla, which I’m always down to use, so I added that. We used Graham Crackers, but we both agreed that Rice Crispys could be very delish too, so take these variations into account to make some balls you will love.

What you will need:

  • 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
  • 1 cup crushed graham crackers
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/4 sicks of unsalted butter
  • 12 oz dark chocolate (60 %)

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Step 1: Crush the Crackers – Smush the Peanut Butter!!!

Using a mortar and pestle (or just a ziplock bag and something heavy to crush with) crush the graham crackers into oblivion! I went a little crazy and made mine into like, almost a powder, but it was fun! Michael thinks that the coarser pieces gave the balls more texture, so if you want something a little more tactile keep your crumbs coarse or use rice crispies!

Did you know that peanut butter is sort of a pain to work with? I love peanut butter but good Lord getting it out of the jar and measured was a pain. You need 1 1/2 cups which is a lot, I tried to pat down the peanut butter to make the measurement as accurate as possible.

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Step 2: Mix Your Ingredients

FIRST: Melt your butter in the microwave (slowly, carefully so not to burn) and let it cool.

While your melting, mix the graham crackers and the peanut butter together.

Next add the powdered sugar, divided. Add one cup, mix until incorporated, add another, mix, and so on. It will look very powdery.

Add the butter, vanilla and salt. Now things are starting to look much more malleable!

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Step 4: Form Balls

This is fun, easy and messy but very simple. Just roll the dough into balls in your hand. Ours are about 2 inches in diameter but you can make them whatever size you like. We had 32 in the end. Deb made her’s smaller and came out with 64.

Sorry no photos with this part – my hands were so sticky!

Step 3: Chop Chocolate

This was my favorite, favorite part! It’s not every day that you get to chop though a massive amount of chocolate with a huge kitchen knife. It was heavenly, messy and oddly satisfying in a way I’ve never known before.

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I’m honestly not even a fan of dark chocolate but look at this!!! So delicious.

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Step 4: Melt Chocolate & Dip Balls

Ok so normally, using a double boiler would be the way to go for melting chocolate, but unfortunately we are missing a part of our DB (that’s what we’re calling it now, “DB,” fyi) so we just melted it in the microwave. The trick with using this method is SLOW and STEADY (and stir it – but come on, duh).

I put the chocolate in a regular microwaveable bowl and put it in for 30 seconds – but watch it, folks!, don’t just have it microwavin’ while you’re doing something else. This is unpredictable.

I would microwave for 30-20 seconds and stir it a lot in between. As it gets more melt-y, you will want to microwave in shorter, 10-second intervals until it’s totally melted and wonderful.

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Now, the traditional Buckeye has some peanut butter filling peeking through (sort of like an eye I guess?) but I think do what you like! Do what makes you happy! And if that means totally submerging your peanut butter balls in chocolate – then so be it!

BUT FIRST!

Put some parchment paper (or “wax paper,” I always feel so fancy and chef-y when I say “parchment”) down on some cookie sheets!

We used shish kabob skewers and sort of twisted the balls around in a circular motion (HAHAHA!!) to cover them in chocolate. But I recently saw on TV the Pioneer Woman made truffles and dipped them in chocolate and she did NOT do this, instead she used a fork, dipped them and just tapped the excess chocolate off on the side of the bowl! It was so impressive. Maybe try that?

They will look like this kind of….

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Step 5: Refrigerate for 30 Minutes – Eat!

These guys are NO BAKE!! Wooohooo!! But that is kind of a lie because you still can’t eat them right away.

Whompwomp : / Sorry, guys.

Put them in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden them up.

When they are done, they will look like this:

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Yay!! Delicious!

Happy eating friends! I’ve got more delish stuff coming up so stay tuned!

*RADMAGICLOVE*

Side Note: How cool is this Willy Wonka font?? As you may or may not know, this blog is SUPER DIY, and all the photos are taken on my iPhone and edited with apps. The app Phonto made this image happen and I’m still learning it, hence the odd blue outline on the word “Scrumptious.” Technology!!!! 

Happy 2013! We’re Engaged!

Hello friends! Welcome to 2013! I know we’re already a week in, but the beginning of the new year is always a crazy time and I have lots of fun things to tell you!

BIG NEWS EVERYONE: Michael asked me to be his wife!! On Christmas Day!! In front of my ENTIRE family!!

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BOOM, BITCHES!

J/K! I’m not that braggy. (I only brag in the classy way, which is the “humblebrag.” Google it, so chic.)

Let me follow up with, I always told him I’d be happy with even a string around my finger because this is not about a piece of jewelry. He is my soul mate, be it pauper or prince, and the commitment is all that matters to me.

But isn’t that the purdiest ring you’ve ever seen in your life? He designed it himself! Isn’t that insane!? It’s literally so so beautiful and sparkly like fireworks that I’m getting distracted while I type this very sentence….and when that happens this song plays in my head (NSFW!!)….

Soooo, I’m sure you’re all dying to hear about how he did it.

Michael and I have always known that we were each others ”The One” since basically our first date and we had been casually looking at engagement rings for a couple months. Despite that I had literally no idea he was going to propose.

Since we spent time in Florida with his family for Thanksgiving, Christmas was my family’s turn and we went to Michigan. The thought hadn’t popped into my head that he might propose until one drunken evening when we were at a little local dive near my parents house.

(He actually psyched me out with the following- which is not something I would necessarily recommend to anyone, but it worked, so there’s that.)

Somehow the topic of marriage came up and he made an off-handed comment like, “You never know when it will happen. It could be tomorrow, it could be in two weeks, could be two years.” I didn’t say anything at the time but it did get my wheels turning, for two reasons – 1) TWO YEARS?! Um, no. 2) Two dayyysss??… I felt excitement.

That night I had a dream that he proposed and I woke up feeling a bit disappointed. I told him that it was ok if it wasn’t going to happen, but just not to talk about it. Not going to lie, I was pretty upset. (Word to the wise men: if you don’t plan on doing it – and doing it soon – don’t ever bring it up.) Michael seemed shocked that I would be upset and was all like, “You really thought I would propose in front of all these people!?” – to which I was like, oh shit, push it outta your brain, self!!

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I had always figured that he would want to propose with just us. He would take me on a trip somewhere, maybe Europe or in the Mountains, and it would be very romantic and over-the-top because that is how he is (sorry ladiez!), and it would be very beautiful and planned out to the very last detail. This would have been fine, but I also had my own version.

As a young girl I saw my aunt get engaged while she was waiting tables at a restaurant  My whole family went there for dinner – I can’t remember if anyone knew was was going to happen – and my uncle got on the intercom (this was pre-buzzers, people) and asked her to marry him in front of our entire family and the entire restaurant. It was so amazing and stayed with me forever. I never told him that story, or that I wanted it to be in front of my whole family.

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While I didn’t really expect him to do this now, at Christmas, in front of 20 of the most important people in my life, the little flicker of those words, “Could happen in two days” – just made my brain go crazy. Now that I knew this was NOT the case, I was like, never think of this again!!!!

Christmas morning comes and it’s the usual present opening and regular stuff, good times. Michael was in a hyper-ish mood and was talking about the wine-drinkin’ he was going to do and how fun the day was going to be! I’m not a morning person and wasn’t as enthused so Michael decided to get ready and go with my Dad to go take some things to my younger brothers house, where we were having Christmas Day dinner.

At my brother’s house we got our wine on, as planned, but after dinner I noticed that Michael had stopped drinking and also stopped talking. It was very odd. So odd that I started kicking him under the table as his one-word, no-yes responses to my Grandmother’s questions were completely out of character. Michael is very, wonderfully close with my family, so this was very strange.  Are you sick? Are you tired? I kept asking. Everything was fine apparently….

My cousin Tori – in a rare moment pulled away from Instagramming – decided it was time to play a game and ushered us all into the downstairs. We all sat on couches and on the floor and everyone was laughing and exchanging stories. Finally as we were about to play the game Michael said he wanted to say a few things.

I had ZERO clue of what was about to happen. Not even an inkling.

He started out talking about how special my family was to him. It was his first Christmas away from his family and he was so grateful to spend it with us. He talked about what a wonderful family we were and said all these beautiful things that made me burst with love.

Still had no idea what was about to happen, I just thought he was being really cute and sweet!

Then – he said he has one more Christmas gift for me and asked me to stand up.

I now knew. And omg did I crrryyyyy. Oh, I looked so ugly! But it was beautiful!

I’m not going to go into details about what he said, but it was wonderful and the most special I’ve ever felt. It was the most special, important day of my life thus far. Thinking about it gives me chills. 

And, that little time spent with my Dad – that was when Michael asked for his blessing which is the most romantic thing ever! And the reason why he was so quite and wasn’t drinking was because of nerves! Which is the most cutest thing ever!

Thank God for all my phone-crazy cousins because they documented the whole thing while my aunts screamed and high-fived.

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So there you have it. The story, the play-by-play of our engagement. I am the luckiest girl in the world and I will be sure to keep everyone up to date with my wedding planning which has been in full swing since this day. Want to know how far I got? 2014! That is all we know. 2014 is when we will get married.

Happy 2013!!! We wish you all health, happiness and love this year.

*RADMAGICLOVE*

From Scratch: Holiday Apple Bread

Greetings, friends.

The couple weeks leading up to the Holidays are filled with many Holiday parties and last weekend Michael and I had both of ours. Mine was 70′s themed which was hilarious, and his was just normal and swanky – both had open bars, both had free food, and both Michael and I are still recovering. Here is a pic of us in our 70′s wear:

mjCUTE!

Ok so anyway, after a night of drinking I’m a bottomless pit of hunger, but also very very lazy. God, why is life so hard?!  Michael had also been complaining that we didn’t have anything to snack on in the house (he’s taking homemade snacks, people) so I was like, what can I make that I already have all the ingredients for and takes minimal effort? After seeing apples in my fridge, thought….Banana Bread —> Apple Bread? Google Apple Bread!!! Turns out, Apple Bread is way easy and my version is warm, spicy and perfect for the Holidays.

What you will need:

  • 3 cups Flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon All Spice
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Vegtable Oil
  • 1 tablespoon Vanilla
  • 2-3 cups Apples (peeled and diced)
  • 1/2 cup -1 cup chopped Walnuts
  • 1 teaspoon Four

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Step 1: Preheat!

Preheat your oven to 350!

I always forget to do this.

Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients

Take a small mixing bowl and toss together the Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Salt and All Spice. Super easy. You don’t necessarily have to use the amounts of spices that I do – All Spice is especially potent, so if you’re not sure if you will totally like it, start out with a pinch and later after the batter is mixed you can add more.

photo (6)This will smell very nice….

Step 3: Mix “Wet” Ingredients 

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the Eggs, Sugars (which is not wet, yes I am aware thank you) Vanilla and Oil, which I did not take a picture of because I was tired and forgetful.

Mix it up!

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Step 4: Add Dry Mix While Slicing Apples

Because Apples turn brown when sitting out, and because I didn’t want to have to use lemon juice to preserve them, I did this part very quickly as my dry ingredients were being incorporated into the Egg/Sugar/Oil/Vanilla mix.

Bit by bit, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mix. Wait until it’s fully incorporated before you add more dry mix.

This will take a few minutes to do, so as you wait for the dry ingredients to be incorporated into the mix I would core, peel and chop your Apples so when your done, you can add them to the batter right away.

The result….

Photo1 (9) Beautiful, right?

I love how you can see the flecks of spices in it. This batter is thick, but it will thin out in the next step.

Step 5: Add Apples and Walnuts

Add your Apples to the mix. As they are blended in, their juices will be released and thin out the batter so it’s not crazy thick.

Before you add your Walnuts, shake them in the small mixing bowl with a bit of flour to coat them.

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Step 6: Pour into Bread Pan – Bake!

Now, I only have one bread pan. This amount could easily fit into two of them. Rather than save some for later or make two batches, I just shove it all into one and hope for the best.

While this is possible (and still turns out great), in reality I advise you to make two batches. Fill each pan up 1/2 way.

Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on top if you feel like you want some extra tastiness.

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Clearly not 1/2 full….it’s full-full.

Pop it in the oven and bake for 1 hour, check it, then continue to bake in 15 minute increments if needed.

The one-pan version ended up being about 1 hour and 25 minutes.

And here is the final result!!

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Nice golden brown color with a relatively crispy shell.

Inside, the chunks of Apple and Walnuts make for a great, moist texture.

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The best thing about this bread is that it honestly tastes better the day after and beyond. 

Serve it warm with a little butter and you will love your life!

*RADMAGICLOVE*

Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

Oh hai December!! Nice to see you!

I realize that November was a sparse month post-wise. I guess could have done a million posts about things that I’m thankful for, decorations for Thanksgiving and lots of recipes. Honestly, it was a lazy month and I’m thankful for that.

It’s 12-12-12 today which sounded like a good day for a post. Happy 12-12-12, everyone! This is a once in a lifetime day so lets make it special.

Michael recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong and Vietnam for work and the night before (or the night of) his return home from long trip afar I always like to make some delicious, hearty, ‘Merican food to welcome him with.  

My original plan was to make him creamy asparagus soup in the crock pot, but I went to the most shitty grocery store ever and they had nothing so that plan had to be scratched. They did have 4 heads of broccoli (is that the term? heads? and I’m dead serious about that being all they had) so I bought 3 and decided to make Crock Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup. 

I adapted my recipe from The Stone Gable – whose post is beautiful and warm and basically made me want to live with them.

What You Will Need: (I always buy too much, so reference the list and not the photo!)

  • Crock pot (duh)
  • Two large heads of broccoli (about 6 cups)
  • One container of chicken stock (about 4 cups)
  • Carrots (about 1 cup)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 cup light cream, 1 cup milk (this is interchangeable with whatever type of cream/milk you may want)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • Cheddar cheese (about 4 cups)
  • Salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
  • A blender

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Step 1: Prepare your veggies! 

The best part about crock pot cooking is that while there is prep, it’s generally very quick and willy-nilly. You can sort of cut to your taste. Personally, I am not a fan of onions texture and generally mince mine, but since we will be using a blender it doesn’t matter! Just chop it up messy!

The Stone Gable advised to julienne the carrots but since all I had was baby carrots I just chopped them in little pieces.

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Put the broccoli in the crock pot and set it aside. 

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Step 2: Simmer onion, garlic and carrots

After you set your broccoli aside, put a little oil (about 1 tablespoon) into a pan on medium-high heat. 

Simmer your onions in the pan until they are starting to get soft and translucent.

Add carrots and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. 

Add garlic and simmer for a couple minutes. 

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Step 3: Add veggies, add stock, cook for a long time

Ok so once you’ve got the veggies soft, you will add them to the broccoli in the crock pot. Add your chicken stock.

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At first I thought that there wasn’t enough chicken stock because the veggies weren’t covered all the way, but as the veggies cook down and release moisture it seems to be a perfect amount.

Cook on LOW for 3-4 HOURS. 

Step 4: Shred Cheese 

About a 1/2 hour before your veggies are done stewing, shred your cheese because it takes a hot minute. I used 1/2 of two blocks, meaning you could just use one block of cheese. But use whatever you want, ok? The nicer the cheese, the better: a rule that I have learned which is a rule for cooking all things, I guess…Anyway, I used a sharp cheddar cheese in both white and orange because, hey, colors!

I also got super innovative and was able to get my grater to fit INSIDE my huge 4-cup measuring cup to avoid messes.

Michael thought I could have used less cheese….so yeah, do with that information what you will.

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Step 5: Add thickening agent (aka, milk and flour), spices and cheese

After you’re done shredding, your veggies should look like this…

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A bit mushy, more liquid than before, darker, etc.

Traditional Broccoli Cheddar Soup has large chunks of broccoli in it, so at this point you will want to scoop out about 2 cups of cooked veggies and set aside – if you’re into that. Personally, I am not. I decided to just blend it alllll!!!!

The Stone Gable post that I got this recipe from was like, “Whisk flour and milk together (but I use a jar with a lid and shake)” and I was like, that’s amazing! I hate whisking flour with liquid! I did not have a jar and lid, but I did have this other cool thing with a lid that came with my emulsion blender that I never use – so I used that.

I used light cream WITH milk, as opposed to just milk, to make this extra fattening. Use whatever you like though.

So – add your cream/flour mix, add your spices (I used about 1 tablespoon of nutmeg) and add the cheese slowly so that it melts. 

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Now we’re starting to have us a Broccoli Cheddar Soup party!

Heat on HIGH HEAT for another 35-45 MINUTES!

Step 6: Blend!!

After your soup has cooked a bit more, you’re ready to blend it. I wouldn’t recommend using a regular blender because I’m clumsy and it sounds like a disaster/third-degree burns waiting to happen – that said, you totally can. It’s a free country! It would just entail pouring batches into the blender, be careful please.

I used an emulsion blender, aka one of my favorite kitchen tools ever, which you just stick inside and swirl around as it pulverizes everything in its way. YEAH!! I feel like listening to Slayer just writing that!

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It took me about 10 minutes to really get it nice and pureed.

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This is what we have in the end! Delicious, thick Broccoli Cheddar Soup!

At this point, if you decided to remove 2 cups of veggies, you can add them back in now. 

Serve with a couple biscuits and enjoy!

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This soup makes A LOT, so I’d advise to make it for a large group or for someone who really loves one particular kind of soup.

I’ve made broccoli soup the regular stove top way, and while this was relaxing and involved a little less prep, it was essentially too time consuming. While it’s delicious and amazing, I think I might retire the crock pot for this particular dish.

*RADMAGICLOVE*