Author: Kaitlin

Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, pumpkin season! My love of pumpkin flavored, well, anything, is well known among my group of friends. September means I am actually allowed to dive into my pumpkin obsession but it is still a bit warm so we will begin with a chilled version of my favorite gourd – Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes!

I had a Pumpkin Pie Milkshake post on here from 2011, but when I switched my blog over to WordPress, the post got a little funky. So I decided to make the milkshake again with a few changes.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings, multiply as needed):

  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 1 cup vanilla almond milk
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 graham cracker (I used cinnamon graham crackers), crumbled

Continue reading Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes

Winner of the Cooking Planit T-Fal 12 Piece Cookware Set Giveaway

Seven days, 100+ individual entrants, and almost 1,500 entries later, my giveaway is officially over and we have a winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Congratulations to Heather!! Please check your e-mail and respond ASAP so that I can get your information sent over to Cooking Planit!

If you didn’t win, no worries, you still have plenty of changes to win! Go check out the other active giveaways and best of luck!

 

THE COOKING PLANIT AND T-FAL 2013 GIVEAWAY
Start End Flight 1 Flight 2
8/19/13 8/25/13 Baby Boomster Mrs. Schwartz’s Kitchen
8/20/13 8/26/13 CopyKat Recipes Daily Dish Recipes
8/21/13 8/27/13 Lisa Cooking Lark’s Country Heart
8/22/13 8/28/13 ME Redone Hot Eats and Cool Reads
8/23/13 8/29/13 Mother Would Know The Two Bite Club
8/24/13 8/30/13 Sophistishe Citron Limette
8/25/13 8/31/13 Kitchen Concoctions Cupcakes and Kale Chips
8/26/13 9/1/13 I Can Cook That Leave a Happy Plate
8/27/13 9/2/13 Peaches & Cake i love my disorganized life
8/28/13 9/3/13 Diddles & Dumplings Yates Yummies
8/29/13 9/4/13 basilmomma Cooking With Libby
8/30/13 9/5/13 Persnickety Plates Creole Contessa
8/31/13 9/6/13 Ancestral Chef Bite Sized Blog
9/1/13 9/7/13 The Staten Island Family Mamal Diane
9/2/13 9/8/13 Food Fash Recipes For My Boys
9/3/13 9/9/13 The Wicked Noodle Hungry Little Girl
9/4/13 9/10/13 Unorganized Mommy of 3 The Tasty Fork
9/5/13 9/11/13 Yi Reservation Dixie Chik Cooks
9/6/13 9/12/13 Chicago Foodie Sisters The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
9/7/13 9/13/13 Cooking from a SAHM FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe
9/8/13 9/14/13 Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen Rants from My Crazy Kitchen
9/9/13 9/15/13 What Jew Wanna Eat Sumptuous Spoonfuls
9/10/13 9/16/13 The Mama Report Busy Mom of Two
9/11/13 9/17/13 Culicurious Huppie Mama
9/12/13 9/18/13 Three Diets. One Dinner. Spice’s Bites

 

Contest Details: Contests open to US only. Limit one winner per household/per family from the 50 blogs participating in the promotion. Individuals winning more than one giveaway will receive 1 set of cookware and the other winning entries will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen.

Salmon Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

For some reason I really haven’t mastered the whole crispy skin thing for fish. Which is kind of ridiculous. I eat/prepare salmon probably once a week on average. Anyways, even when I fail at achieving crispy skin, I still thoroughly enjoy my salmon dish. And this is another one of those cases. This recipe should result in crispy skin. And. Well. It just didn’t, but it’s absolutely delicious anyways!

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes (I used heirloom)
  • 2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets, skin-on
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
  • 4 oz mixed baby lettuce leaves

Continue reading Salmon Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Last Day to Enter T-Fal 12 Piece Cookware Set Giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway! Be sure to enter, the prize is pretty fantastic! As a friendly reminder, I am giving away a 12 Piece T Fal Cookware Set sponsored by Cooking Planit!

I reviewed Cooking Planit a few times before, so be sure to check out those posts to see how helpful this app really is. To see my previous posts/reviews, check out this Shrimp Scampi post, as well as this post on Braised Baby Back Ribs and Creamy Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta, and my latest post on Seared Arctic Char with Avocado-Horseradish Cream, Cherry Tomato Salad, and Cauliflower Chive Puree.)

The T-Fal Cookware includes:

  • 8” non-stick stainless steel pan with Thermo hear indicator
  • 10” non-stick stainless steel pan with Thermo hear indicator
  • 1 quart stainless steel pot with fitted lid
  • 2 quart stainless steel pot with fitted lid
  • 3 quart stainless steel pot with fitted lid
  • 5 quart stainless steel pot with fitted lid
  • Metal serving spoon
  • Metal spatula

Continue reading Last Day to Enter T-Fal 12 Piece Cookware Set Giveaway!

Coppola Chardonnay Pink Grapefruit Snow Cone and Frozen Cocktail

Snow cones (or snow balls, depending on where you are from) are synonymous with summer, boardwalks, and childhood. Shaved ice topped with a flavored sugar syrup are a refreshing treat on hot days. Francis Ford Coppola Winery offers Skylite Snowball Cocktail Syrups that pair perfectly with Coppola wine offerings for adult snow cones! I was sent a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola Chardonnay to try out this fun treat and paired it with the Skylite Pink Grapefruit Syrup to make Coppola Chardonnay Pink Grapefruit Snow Cones and Frozen Cocktails!

Ingredients (makes 1):

  • 2 tablespoons Diamond Collection Chardonnay
  • 1/2 tablespoons Skylight Pink Grapefruit Syrup
  • 5 oz shaved ice

Continue reading Coppola Chardonnay Pink Grapefruit Snow Cone and Frozen Cocktail

Plum Swirled Cheesecake Bars

This recipe for Plum Swirled Cheesecake Bars is a result of me going a little off the grocery list last time I went food shopping. Have you ever seen an ingredient in the supermarket and decided you just have to make something with it? This happens to me quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I normally do not have a recipe lined up to take advantage of my new purchase. I wanted to take a break from some peach recipes I’ve been making recently (Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peach Pie, Peach Cobbler, and Bourbon-Peach Lemonade to name a few) and focus on a relative of peaches: the plum. I haven’t worked with plums much in the past (I actually only have once recipe: Plum Sweet and Spicy Chicken) but I just could not resist how great they looked!

I decided to take a Martha Stewart recipe for Apricot Cheesecake Bars and instead make my own Plum Compote as a substitute for the Apricots, resulting in these Plum Swirled Cheesecake Bars.

Ingredients:

Plum Compote:

  • ½ cup port wine
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise
  • The zest of one orange
  • 6 plums, stones removed and sliced

Cheesecake:

  • 18 graham crackers (I used cinnamon graham crackers)
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla powder (I used Nielsen Massey)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract (I used Nielsen Massey)
  • Coarse salt, to taste
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature

Continue reading Plum Swirled Cheesecake Bars

Seafood Arrabbiata

My boyfriend and I have been trying to eat less meat and increase our seafood, shellfish, and vegetarian dinner options. In general, vegetarian and fish dinner options are also a great choice for a weeknight dinner because they take very little time to prepare.

 

This recipe for Seafood Arrabbiata from Cooking Light incorporates a few different types of shellfish into a spicy tomato broth that is served over pasta.

“Arrabbiata” means “angry” in Italian alluding to the spiciness of the dish. You can alter the spices to your liking. I’d suggest adding very little crushed red pepper, and then having a shaker of red pepper when serving so each person can customize their level of heat.

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 1 (16oz box) uncooked linguine
  • 2 tablespoons chili olive oil, divided  (I used Nudo Olive Oil with Sicilian Chillies), (can substitute regular olive oil)
  • 8 ounces sea scallops
  • 8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon if using regular olive oil)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, optional
  • 1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree
  • 1/2 cup clam juice
  • 24 littleneck clams
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

Continue reading Seafood Arrabbiata

12-Piece T-Fal Cookware Giveaway Hosted by Cooking Planit

My goodness I have some exciting news for you! Through my work with Cooking Planit, a great website/app that helps plan meals from food shopping to getting it all on the table at the same time, I and 49 other bloggers will be hosting an amazing giveaway!

For 25 days straight starting Monday, August 19, two bloggers at a time will give readers the chance to win a 12-piece T-Fal Cookware set. That’s right, you can win a set of nonstick pans and stainless steel pots courtesy of Cooking Planit, T-Fal, and 50 pretty fantastic bloggers!

 

You are welcome (and encouraged!) to enter all of them, which gives you 50 chances to win this cookware set! I received one in preparation for this giveaway and will have a review of the set on I Can Cook That on August 26, so be sure to pop in here to enter!

 

Be sure to check out Cooking Planit as well, it is a truly amazing tool, especially for those learning how to cook. I’ve made a couple of their recipes before, including Shrimp Scampi and Braised Baby Back Ribs and Creamy Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta. (The baby back ribs post includes a review of Cooking Planit if you’d like more information about this wonderful app.) You can download the free Cooking Planit app here.

 

To check out all of the other lovely bloggers participating use the links below. I hope you all are as excited about this as I am! Good luck!

 

THE COOKING PLANIT AND T-FAL 2013 GIVEAWAY
Start End Flight 1 Flight 2
8/19/13 8/25/13 Baby Boomster Mrs. Schwartz’s Kitchen
8/20/13 8/26/13 CopyKat Recipes Daily Dish Recipes
8/21/13 8/27/13 Lisa Cooking Lark’s Country Heart
8/22/13 8/28/13 ME Redone Hot Eats and Cool Reads
8/23/13 8/29/13 Mother Would Know The Two Bite Club
8/24/13 8/30/13 Sophistishe Citron Limette
8/25/13 8/31/13 Kitchen Concoctions Cupcakes and Kale Chips
8/26/13 9/1/13 I Can Cook That Leave a Happy Plate
8/27/13 9/2/13 Peaches & Cake i love my disorganized life
8/28/13 9/3/13 Diddles & Dumplings Yates Yummies
8/29/13 9/4/13 basilmomma Cooking With Libby
8/30/13 9/5/13 Persnickety Plates Creole Contessa
8/31/13 9/6/13 Ancestral Chef Bite Sized Blog
9/1/13 9/7/13 The Staten Island Family Mamal Diane
9/2/13 9/8/13 Food Fash Recipes For My Boys
9/3/13 9/9/13 The Wicked Noodle Hungry Little Girl
9/4/13 9/10/13 Unorganized Mommy of 3 The Tasty Fork
9/5/13 9/11/13 Yi Reservation Dixie Chik Cooks
9/6/13 9/12/13 Chicago Foodie Sisters The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
9/7/13 9/13/13 Cooking from a SAHM FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe
9/8/13 9/14/13 Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen Rants from My Crazy Kitchen
9/9/13 9/15/13 What Jew Wanna Eat Sumptuous Spoonfuls
9/10/13 9/16/13 The Mama Report Busy Mom of Two
9/11/13 9/17/13 Culicurious Huppie Mama
9/12/13 9/18/13 Three Diets. One Dinner. Spice’s Bites

 

Contest Details: Contests open to US only. Limit one winner per household/per family from the 50 blogs participating in the promotion. Individuals winning more than one giveaway will receive 1 set of cookware and the other winning entries will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen. 

 

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

My poor slow cooker never gets a break. Even in the summer, I use it quite a bit! Slow cooker meals are great because they don’t heat up your entire kitchen, and usually make at least 8 servings, great for a party or for leftovers. Plus, you can put the ingredients in a slow cooker, go to work, and have dinner nearly finished when you return!

My love of tacos is fairly obvious on my blog. I’ve made everything from Huevos Rancheros Tacos to Steak Tacos with Lime Mayo to even Kung Pao Chicken Tacos. But I’ve basically avoided doing a pork taco, mainly because I just don’t eat much pork.

But I need some variety every now and then, so I decided to finally try my hand at making some. This recipe for carnitas from myrecipes.com is really simple. All of the ingredients can be found in your local grocery store.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 (3-pound) boneless pork shoulder
  • 10 whole garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 chipotle chiles canned in adobo sauce, drained and chopped
  • 20 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
  • 2/3 cup chopped onion
  • 2/3 cup fresh salsa (I have a Fresh Salsa recipe on my blog. Just omit the corn.)
  • 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 10 lime wedges

Continue reading Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peach Pie

August is National Peach month! My boyfriend is a big fan of peaches so I’ve been buying them a lot lately. We were going to visit friends this weekend and I wanted to bring something down so I decided to try to make a peach pie.

This recipe is from Southern Living and sounded oh so good; I had all of the ingredients on hand so I figured I could at least try! My pie experience is a bit limited but this one turned out great. I even made the pie crust from scratch which was a lot more simple than I expected.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cups cold butter
  • 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or baking spice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water
  • 8 large fresh, firm, ripe peaches (about 4 lb.)
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Continue reading Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peach Pie

Walkers Shortbread Back to School Snack Ideas

As a member of the Walkers Shortbread Blogger Ambassador program, I was sent samples of the company’s full line of mini shortbread and cookie varieties. I honestly had no idea these even existed, but I’m so excited they do! Walkers  offers Mini Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Mini Shortbread Fingers, Mini Shortbread Rounds, and their newest cookie Mini Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies.

Each variety are made from all natural ingredients including whole-wheat flour, creamery butter, and whole grain oats. All of the cookies are really delicious but my favorite was the Mini Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies, I couldn’t stop eating them!The bags contain more than one serving, so they come in a great re-sealable grab and go bag, (if you’re able to control yourself unlike me).

Continue reading Walkers Shortbread Back to School Snack Ideas

Chicken Piccata with Spaghetti

One of my earlier posts on this blog was a chicken piccata recipe. I used to make chicken piccata probably once a week, because it was one of the only recipes I knew! But since I’ve committed to learning how to cook, I haven’t made it in probably 2 years (there are so many recipes I have to try, I rarely go back to my previous go-to recipes). So I decided to revisit the recipe with a few tweaks.

I’ve seen commercials for Land O Lakes Sauté Express products and just loved the idea. The Sauté Starters, made with butter, olive oil, and spices, are an easy way to cook up chicken or fish effortlessly. The Sauté Express Sauté Starters are specifically made for cooking on a stovetop and are portioned out in one ounce servings, enough to cook two chicken breast or fish fillets. So I thought the Garlic & Herb Sauté Express would be great in chicken piccata.

Because I use the same pan to both make the sauce and cook my chicken, my piccata is browner than most you’ll find in restaurants. So I apologize for the presentation. But trust me, the flavor makes it worth it!

 

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 lb chicken tenderloins (about 8 pieces)
  • 2 squares Garlic & Herb Sauté Express, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 1/3 cup white wine (whatever you have around the house)
  • ¾ cup chicken stock
  • The juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 box spaghetti (or your favorite pasta)
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
  • 2 tablespoons drained capers
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

  Continue reading Chicken Piccata with Spaghetti

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce

My boyfriend really likes peaches. But, strangely enough, he’s allergic to the skin of peaches so he really only eats them in desserts. I owe him a peach cobbler at some point, but when I saw this recipe from The Pioneer Woman I thought he’d love it. (Plus, it’s a bit easier than a cobbler… baby steps.)

I didn’t have real maple syrup, so I had to use the stuff you use on pancakes. Because of that, the recipe is slightly altered from the original to account for the sweetness.

Ingredients:

  • 6 whole fresh peaches
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) – cold
  • the juice and zest of one lemon
  • 6 tablespoons pancake syrup, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Continue reading Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce

Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Tomatoes

Ravioli is a favorite of mine for weeknight meals when you just don’t have the energy to cook. You just throw them in the pasta pot and then toss them in a sauce. This recipe involves a bit more than just reheating sauce from the freezer, but it’s still really simple. I love ravioli in a traditional tomato sauce so this recipe for Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Tomatoes sounded great!

Roasting tomatoes brings out flavor you never even knew tomatoes had. When paired with balsamic vinegar to balance out their sweetness, roasted tomatoes are truly delicious.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound cherry tomatoes
  • 2 shallots, cut into wedges
  • Cooking spray
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 12 ounces cheese ravioli
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Continue reading Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Tomatoes

Gazpacho with Grilled Pickapeppa Shrimp

Cooking Light’s August issue had a recipe for Pickapeppa Chicken and Mango Kebabs (that I plan on making soon) that required me to buy a bottle of Pickapeppa sauce. I had never heard of this sauce before and I was intrigued. It’s a Caribbean condiment referred to as “Jamaican ketchup” that is basically a sweeter A1 sauce, made with tomatoes, onions, mangoes, peppers, and other spices.

I thought this sauce sounded like it would be great on shrimp, so I decided to incorporate it into another Cooking Light recipe from the same issue: Gazpacho with Shrimp.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (10-ounce) container grape tomatoes, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced English cucumber, divided
  • 1 cup diced red bell pepper, divided  (about 2 peppers)
  • 3/4 cup diced Vidalia or other sweet onion, divided
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 5/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes, drained
  • The juice of one lemon
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ cup pickapeppa sauce
  • 20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 8 ounces)

Continue reading Gazpacho with Grilled Pickapeppa Shrimp

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