A Night in Italy: Homemade Tomato "Red" Sauce

Tonight I decided to take a little trip to Italy... well not really, but I did decide to have a Italian dinner!  I found our old pasta maker and made my own pasta. It was so easy and fun to make it and then let it dry out during the day. 

The Pasta Drying

Not only did I make my own pasta, but I also chose to make my own tomato sauce. Some know it as "red" sauce or even marinara sauce. All ingredients especially the spices, onion and garlic can be changed based on your personal liking. I like a lot of garlic and onion, so I added a good amount.


 Here is a simple and quick sauce to put with any type of pasta. You can even use it was a dip for some yummy garlic bread!

Enjoy!

-Kym's Kitchen


Kym's Homemade Tomato "Red" Sauce
(from: Kym's Kitchen)

The Final Product

Ingredients:

2 cans of tomato soup
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 can of water (use an empty tomato soup can)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
basil (to taste)
cilantro (to taste)
oregano (to taste)
2 tomatoes, diced
butter
1 tsp corn starch (if needed)

Instructions:

1. Heat the onions, garlic and butter in a pot until the onions are translucent.
2. Add in the tomato soup and water then stir.  Bring that to a simmer.
3. Next add in the spices and balsamic vinegar. If the sauce seems to runny, then you can add in the corn starch until it thickens to your liking.
4. Lastly add in the diced tomatoes. Let that simmer for a few minutes so that they cook down a little. 

Going Bananas for Banana Pudding...Cupcakes?

Seriously? Banana pudding cupcakes?? Believe it or not, YES!

Here is a cupcake that, in my opinion, is healthy for you! ;) I mean you are eating bananas after all! The recipe calls for 2 medium bananas, but I used 3 because I wanted a good banana flavor. I thought that the extra banana added enough flavor without it being overpowering. If you are unsure, I would make the batter with 2 bananas, taste it and then add more if you need to. I will admit it killed me to make this recipe a little because I had to use a box cake mix! But it was very good!

The recipe calls for whipped cream topping using Cool Whip. I made my own whipped cream and it turned out great! I will put the whipped cream recipe at the bottom too! After you put the whipped cream on, you sprinkle it with crumbled vanilla wafers and a banana chip! Yummy!

Hope you go "bananas" over this recipe! Enjoy!!

-Kym's Kitchen 


Banana Pudding Cupcakes
(from: Betty Crocker Cupcake Book*)

Ingredients:
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® vanilla cake mix
1 box (4-serving size) banana cream instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium)
45 vanilla wafer cookies, crushed (2 cups)
15 vanilla wafer cookies, coarsely crushed (2/3 cup) 
24 dried banana chips 

Directions:   

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in mashed bananas and 2 cups crushed cookies. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. 
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely. 
4. Frost cupcakes with whipped topping. Sprinkle with 2/3 cup crushed cookies. Top with banana chips.


Homemade Whipped Cream
(From: Kym's Kitchen)

Ingredients:
 
16 oz. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Whip cream in a stand mixer or hand mixer until it peaks. 
2. Add in the sugar and vanilla. Mix until the the sugar is completely mixed in. It should not taste gritty.  


* Link to the website: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/banana-pudding-cupcakes/bd30a3e2-efba-4128-af8b-843a3105b8c9?term=banana
 

Fresh Cinnamon Apple Sundae

I apologize that it has been so long since I last posted. One of my goals for 2014 (although I am a couple months late) is to post a new recipe or food find at least once a week! So, be on the look out for new blog posts!

I decided to start the year off with apples!! You can never go wrong with apples especially when it involves cinnamon and ice cream! This is a true homemade recipe that I came up with tonight by just putting different ingredients together!

It is a perfect little sundae for spending a nice night on the back porch. Enjoy this quick and yummy cinnamon apple sundae! Don't forget... always make it your own! If you want to add some liquor or something to it, GO AHEAD! I could see maybe a cinnamon liquor or even Pinnacle's Atomic Hot to add a little spice! Or maybe you could add some Jim Beam's Red Stag Spiced Bourbon! The options are endless! If you try something different, let me know! I would love to know what other people try!

Enjoy!

-Kym's Kitchen



Cinnamon Apple Sundae

I know it isn't the prettiest picture, but it is sure good!

(From: Kym's Kitchen)


Ingredients: 
(Makes 2 sundaes)

2 medium apples, cored
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 stick butter (can be salted or unsalted)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream


Directions:

1. Take the 2 apples and core them. There are two options to slicing the apples. You can either chop them into cubes or you can thinly slice them (they look like little smiles).
2. Melt the butter and brown sugar in a skillet pan. The sugar should be dissolved.
3. Add the cinnamon. If needed, you can add either a little water or more butter to make the mixture as thin as you need. 
4. Next add the apples. Cook the apples until they are soft about 6-8 minutes. If you want the apples to have a little crunch, then I would only cook them for about 4-5 minutes.
5. Scoop your ice cream into a bowl and pour the cinnamon apple mixture over the ice cream.
6. Enjoy! 

Pumpkin Pie Cookies- A little "bite" of Fall

Fall is quickly approaching (even if doesn't feel like it for all my fellow FL people), which means everything pumpkin will be out. Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice lattes, pumpkin breads and just simply pumpkins! I thought it would be appropriate to experiment and try to make a pumpkin pie cookie.  I have successfully made a pumpkin pie cookie that is to die for. I am usually not a pumpkin person... I will eat a slice of pumpkin pie, but it has to have more whipped cream than pie on it. These cookies though... I could eat a dozen of them! These would be perfect for a Halloween party or even Thanksgiving. They could be topped with a little whipped cream, my pumpkin spice icing, or a pumpkin spice whipped cream (I will give both recipes below).

They do end up being like a cake consistency. I have not experimented with trying to bake them as a "cake", but it might work. So if you are feeling adventurous, try it! It is hard to tell when the cookies are completely done, so you can either use the toothpick method or check the bottoms to see if they easily come off the cookie sheet.

Enjoy this little "bite" of Fall!


-Kym's Kitchen


Pumpkin Pie Cookies

(Kym's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 oz vanilla pudding, instant (usually it is 1 pack)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 can of pumpkin (You can add the whole can if you think it needs more)
1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the butter and sugars
3. Add the pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla into the mix and stir well
4. Next add the flour and baking soda to the mixture, and continue to mix well
5. Add the pumpkin pie spice and mix well.
6. Lastly add the pumpkin and let it mix in well.
7. Bake for about 10 minutes. The cookies will be almost a cake consistency, so just check inside to the cookie with a  toothpick to make sure that they are done. 


Optional Toppings:

Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Frosting
(Kym's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions:

1. In a bowl/ mixer, combine butter, sugar and salt. Beat until blended.

2. Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3-5 minutes or until smooth.

3. Add the Pumpkin pie spice to taste.

Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream
(Kym's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 16oz. container heavy whipping cream
1- 2 cups sugar (depending on how sweet you like it. If you would prefer a non- sweet whipped cream, you can just leave it out)
1-2 tsp pumpkin spice

Directions:

1. Beat the heavy whipping cream until it peaks and is light and fluffy.
2. Gently add in the pumpkin spice and sugar.

** All of the sugar and pumpkin spice can be added in "to taste". This is why there is not a definite amount listed. I just added a little here and a little there. **

Joanne's Death By Chocolate Cake

Calling all chocolate lovers... Here is a super easy and amazing chocolate cake "trifle." This would be a great dessert for a simple birthday party or even something to take to a work event. We recently took it to a football game for tailgating and shared it with everyone. It was so yummy we didn't have any left! Since I knew we were going to be giving it away, I put it in a few Tupperware bowls. It was easy to split the recipe into all three bowls. You can put it into anything though depending on the event.

In order to make the recipe your own, I am sure you can add any type of candy bar you want if you don't want to use the Heath bars. Try it with Snickers, Reese's Cups, or maybe just regular peanuts. Have fun with this and enjoy!

Chocolate Love!

-Kym's Kitchen

Joanne's Death By Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 box Devil's food cake mix
3 pk, small, instant chocolate pudding
1 container of whipped cream
Heath Bars (mini''s worked best)

Directions:

1. Bake the cake following the instructions on the box. Once baked, set aside to cool.
2.  Make the chocolate pudding following the instructions on the box as well.
3. Put the Heath bars in a ziplock baggie and crush into small-medium size pieces. **Freezing the bars ahead of time will help**
4.  Time for the fun part: LAYERING. First take the chocolate cake and break it up into pieces and place at the bottom of the container. Then add a layer of the chocolate pudding. Next a layer of whipped cream. Then sprinkle with the crushed Heath bars.
5. Repeat step 4 until all of the ingredients have been used.
6. ENJOY!

Sugar Dusted Splatter Cookies

Looking for an easy cookie recipe for the summer? Well here it is! This recipe you can use for any occasion. It is very simple and you can change flavors to whatever you want! I have tried lemon and now chocolate. Of course chocolate is my favorite! I would encourage you to try new flavors; strawberry, red velvet or whatever! My only suggestion is to think about what kind of extract to use. The lemon recipe calls for lemon extract and in the chocolate, I used vanilla. Try different combinations and see what works. Have fun!

Enjoy!

-Kym's Kitchen

Sugar Dusted Splatter Cookies
(adapted from "Easy Lemon Cookie" recipe found at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-lemon-cookies/detail.aspx?lnkid=arm1029)

Ingredients:

1 package cake mix (your choice of flavor)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp of extract (your choice)
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl and stir in eggs, oil and extract, until well blended. The batter will be sticky.
3. Drop teaspoon size balls into the bowl of confectioners' sugar. Roll them until coated with the sugar.  Then place on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for about 6-8 minutes. The insides will be chewy.

Summer Piña Colada Cupcakes

I was recently asked to make a dessert for a Hawaiian themed event. I decided to make a alcohol free Piña Colada cupcake. It was so easy and so much fun to make this wonderfully sweet treat. I am sure that if you wanted to make it more "adult" friendly, you could add a little rum to the cake mix, just subtract some water when making it.  I used the buttercream icing from my Jack Daniel's cupcakes, except I doubled the recipe. To add the coconut flavor, I added coconut extract instead of vanilla to the icing. This was so easy to make and quick too! Here is the perfect summer party dessert!

Aloha and ʻohoiho (or Enjoy!)

-Kym's Kitchen

Piña Colada Cupcake
(From: Kym's Kitchen)
 
 Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker Pineapple cake mix
Shredded, sweetened coconut
Dried Pinapple
1 doubled buttercream icing recipe (See Jack Daniel's Cupcake Post for recipe)
Coconut Extract

Directions:

1. Make cake as directed on box.

2. To toast the coconut, spread a thin layer on a cookie sheet and place in a 325 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes. You want the coconut to be a golden brown but not burnt! 

3. Slice the dried pineapple in half (for mini-cupcakes) or leave whole (for bigger cupcakes).

4. Make the buttercream icing (from Jack Daniel's blog post) and add coconut extract.

5. Pipe the icing onto the cucpakes, then dip the cupcake in the toasted coconut.

6. Top with the slice of dried pinapple.

7. Enjoy!