Mon Petit

Ohmigoodness. how awesome is this tent?!?!! Its INCREDIBLY AWESOME in case you're wondering. Or perhaps you're just too blown away and at a loss for words..ha ha. And It looks incredibly easy, which adds to the awesome factor..

You can find the tutorial HERE at this darling blog with lots more fun to browse through!
Speaking of fun, and since I forgot yesterdays...Do you love Circus Animal cookies as much as I do? I mean, c'mon..how can you NOT?! They're one of those snacks you get for your kids because they're whimiscal and nostalgic, and then suddenly you're popping one in  your mouth, but wait! Maybe a pink one too, just in case it tastes different from the white...and purple....and whoops the bags gone. sheesh. what is wrong with ME!? Okay, thats never happened, but I DO find myself eating them with my kids and wondering why in the world am I, a grown woman (ahem, yes I am thank you very much) eating circus cookies with a four year old and grinning...
Now I can make my own. WHOO!!!

You can find the rather remarkable recipe HERE!

Mon Petit

I hate halloween. There I said it. I'm sure as my kids grow up I'll start to enjoy it more...but for now, I hate it. Despise it really. Mailey got scared looking through my Martha Stewart Halloween issue for crying out loud. Sigh. What is with the increasing gore and death themes? Blech.
So here's my one and only Halloween contribution. And its labeled helloween. get it? hello...ha.

HELLOween notecards

Super cute broom cookies...yes I'll admit it...

The daily

I got sick of seeing Mon Petite Chou...made me want to sniff cheese and wear a beret..alas...so today its the daily..maybe I'll just call the Mon Petite...hmm...Que pensez-vous?
I've never had the starbucks constantine, but it sounded and looked so good I'm going to!! are you?!?


(courtesty of howaboutorange.blogspot.com)
Here's another iced coffee recipe for ya. If you're a coffee drinker and you like chai, you'll probably like this. If you don't like chai, you probably won't.

2/3 cup ground dark roast coffee
4 cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into small pieces
6 cups water
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (a tiny bit too much, in my opinion)
2/3 cup honey
ice cubes
half-and-half or milk

Mix together the coffee and cinnamon sticks. Using the coffee-cinnamon mixture and the water, brew coffee by your customary brewing method. Add the cardamom and honey to the hot coffee and stir until the honey dissolves. Cover and chill. To serve, fill tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour about 2/3 cup chilled coffee into each glass. Pass the milk. Serves 8.

Recipe from coffeefair.com

Mon petit chou

Lemon pound cake
YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!!!!!! Sooo tart and lemony and moist and marvelous...mmm....

Ultimate Pound Cake, adapted from Lori Longbotham:

Serves 12 (in theory)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 TB lemon zest
1 tsp. pure lemon extract
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300F. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
Sift the flour, baking owder and salt together twice.
Cream the butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flou. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon extract.
Pour the batter into the prepared apn and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Poke holes all over the cake with a wooden skewer
Meanwhile, bring the lemon juice and remaininf sugar to a boil over medium high heat in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Invert the cake onto a rack, position over a baking sheet and slowly pour the syrup over the cake, it will seap through the holes and into the cake. Let cool to room temp.

Mon petit chou

Mmmmm....doesn't this sound like so much fun?! What a perfect little gift for someone special, just top it with some darling fabric edged with pinking shears, tie a printed gift tag on with some twine and voila..homemade and heartfelt, pumpkin pie for one :)

Potted Pumpkin Pies

Just fill with your favorite pumpkin pie recipe and top with a stabilized whipping cream!! If you need a recipe, these are made with THIS RECIPE from everyday food by the amazing martha.

first bake em...

then frost em..

Then give them away :) 

I think these would be great with some crushed graham or ginger cookies in the bottom...you think?

Mon petit chou

I dare you not to smile when you see this

Okay seriously, how flaming amazing is this?!?!!? My kids are gonna die if I ever get around to making it with them...I found a recipe that makes this much more adult friendly..cuz really its just spaghetti poked through hot dogs and boiled...but here's a link for a fun recipe..

http://www.lifeisafeast.com/2010/08/spaghetti-woven-through-sausages.html

 a la' grown up

Mon petit chou

This is by far, the coolest Halloween baking I've seen in the blogosphere...anyone dare to try it?! Lacy...?

okay...it looks like, a pumpkin. yes. but click on the link to see what the inside looks like!! Don't worry, its not gross...ha...no pumpkin guts, I promise...any guesses?!

click to find out!!!

http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2010/09/pumpkin-cake.html

Mon petit chou

Okay..so I seem to only post when something has gotten me worked up enough to spew it out in words..ha. But I want this blog to also be light hearted, fun, and consistent...so i'm starting a daily post, called "Mon petit chou", or, my little cabbage in french. Its a term of endearment in the romantic language, like how we call our babies our little pumpkin's or sweetheart etc...The crafting craze has seriously caught me by a storm; I am totally swept up in it. I love finding free patterns, DIY tutorials, recipes etc...I LOVE IT! So every day I will post my daily find, some will be for sewers, bakers, crafters, gardeners, mothers etc...I hope you enjoy it, I know I will, and I'll love having an archive of crafty, delicious, indulgent joy for my inner creative woman :)
alright..ready?

MON PETIT CHOU

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_fruit_leather/

I can't wait to try this!!!!

Child Labor

HA! Just kidding, it wasn't child labor (well...sorta). Mailey made dinner tonight! whoop whoop! My crafty dreams of enforcing child labor, are slowly taking shape....and as I twist my hands with barely contained glee...whoops! just kidding! wow, where did that come from?!?!
Mailey has always loved helping in the kitchen, and tonight I decided to let her help with dinner. We made Curry in a Hurry from the infamous kitchen of Patti Rice. And dude. You gotta make this recipe. Its quick, cheap, easy and look! Even a four year old can do it!!!
Okay, I pre-measured everything and De-boned a chicken and made rice (Tia Rosa makes tortilla bread, which is incredible with this dish...almost like naan) and well...you get the picture. But it was so darn cute! When we sat down to eat, Mailey could barely contain her glee, she had the biggest, cheesiest grin on her face waiting for our first bites, and then when we lavished her with praise, she seriously swooned she was so proud. It was darling. I must do it again.

Here's the pictures, first the carefully measured ingredients, then Mailey covering her eyes as she sautéed onions (ha!!!) and then the results :) Yes I let a four year old work over a hot stove. But it was on a very medium low and I was right there constantly reminding her the oven could fry her fingers off if she touched it. Just know, she was not even about to get close :)
The pictures were taken with my phone, hence the annoyingly low quality. I really need to recharge those darn batteries...

Going Dutch!

If you've never had a dutch baby you HAVE GOT TO EAT ONE RIGHT NOW! okay..I swear I'm not a cannibal and I don't endorse eating dutch infants (ick) but these holland-esque pancakes will make you swoon.
It is very rich and indulgent (do i EVER post healthy recipes...no, no i do not)so I don't make this very often, BUT! I saw the recipe over HERE and oh golly its good!
The recipe calls for a cast iron skillet, but after reviewing the comments I used a glass pie dish and it was beautiful. Just put the butter in a 10" pie plate and let it melt in the oven, wait till it starts to brown then take it out and slowly pour the batter into the butter. Since this is heated glass make the batter asap and let it warm to room temp while the butter melts so it doesn't shatter your pie plate. That said...ENJOY and load up with powdered sugar and fresh squeezed lemon juice! (you can add melted butter if you want, i find that the butter it cooks in provides enough flavor, I do use salted butter because i like the contrast of flavors, also, let it bake the whole 20-25min, it may seem ready sooner but you really want those eggs to set in the middle or its a bit too uncooked in the center.

For the pancakes:
4 Tbs salted butter
4 large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup half-and-half

For the topping:
4 oz clarified butter (or, if you’re not into clarifying, simple melted butter will do)
Juice of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar

In a blender, whir together the eggs, flour, and half-and-half.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the butter in the pie plate and immediately put it in the preheating oven to melt. Remove once the butter begins to brown

Pour the batter into the pie plate over the melted butter. Slide the plate back into the oven, and bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the puffed pancakes from the oven, transfer them to a plate or shallow bowl, and pour on melted butter, sprinkle on lemon juice, and dust with (lots of) powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Serves two.

Lemon bars! Don't be fooled into thinking these are tough!

Okay..someday I will actually like write a blog about whats going on in my life. We've got a new building, we moved. We're going to conference. People flake, people come, people are people. We have two rockin' stand up gentlemen who have completely devoted their lives to Jesus and to being discipled and available. Jesus is still moving despite my frequently filthy attitude. I am still baking up a storm (I'll post a pic soon of some AMAZING cookie tins I found at Michaels) for new people we heckle on follow up. AND! A month or so ago, I wanted lemon bars so I made some. I have always loved lemon bars, but they always seemed so haughty and very far above my meager housewifely status, so I never attempted to even look at a recipe. Lemme just say, these are one of the EASIEST desserts I've ever made. For reals. So give it a shot. They will rock your socks off. Perfectly tart, delightfully sweet on top and did I mention they look incredibly classy?! Well they do.
(To sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, I like to dump a cup in a wire mesh strainer and just tap it or shake it above the bars, BE GENEROUS! It may seem like a light dusting will be enough, but to really taste any of that nice sweetness in contrast to the tartness of the lemon, put a good coating on!)

1½ hours | 30 min prep

24 Bars

Shortbread Base

3/4 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling
Shortbread Base:Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut butter into 1/2 inch pieces.
In food processor(Or if your normal like me and don't have one, then just use a large mixing bowl and cut very cold butter into the mix), process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps.
Press mixture evenly into 9x13 baking pan.
Bake in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes.
While shortbread is baking, prepare topping.
Topping: In bowl whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until combined well.
Stir in lemon juice and flour.
Pour lemon mixture over hot shortbread base.
Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake in middle of oven until set, about 30 minutes.
Let cool completely in pan then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Chocolatey, Coconuty, goodness...

Okay..these cookies are seriously good. I saw the recipe for chocolate coconut bars on the back of a brown sugar bag...and the coconut part got me. I don't know about you, but I never try recipes on the backs of packages...I'm always way to hesitant to believe it could possibly taste good. I mean, its printed on the back of package for goodness sake, and it sort of just seems like an advertisement for the brand, use C&H brown sugar, mix with C&H flour, oh yes, and C&H EVERYTHING..you know what I mean. But I gave these a go, and holy cow! So GOOD! they're chewy and delicious on top, chocolate goodness in the middle, and a shortbread crust. Does it get any better?!

Chocolate Coconut Bars
yields approx. 3 dozen bars

1 1/2C flour
1/2C packed dark brown sugar
1/2C (1 stick butter)
1/4t Salt
1 1/2C milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
2 Eggs
1C packed brown sugar
1t Vanilla extract
2T all purpose flour
1/2t baking powder
1/4t salt
1 1/2C flaked coconut

preheat oven to 375

Grease a 13x9 baking dish. In a large bowl using your fingers or a pastry cutter, combine first four ingredients until crumbly. Pat into baking dish to make a thin crust, bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot crust; return to the oven for about 1 minute to soften. Spread chocolate evenly over crust. In a medium bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon colored. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and beat into sugar mixture. Stir in coconut. Spread evenly over chocolate layer. Bake 15-20 minutes. Cool in pan and cut into bars!

Tortilla soup...

I've been fighting a stuffy annoying cold for awhile now...and this soup was JUST the thing to help, spicy, brothy, salty...warm...mmmm...and so easy!
Chicken tortilla soup

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 cans mexican salsa (like the brand pictured
1/2t ground cumin
1t cayenne pepper
2T chicken bouillon
Juice of 2 limes or about 2T
1C sweet corn
(optional)
sour cream
avacado
diced tomatoes
tortilla chips
shredded colby jack cheese
Hot sauce

Either leave the chicken in a crockpot for six hours or boil it until you can shred it. Have enough water to just cover the chicken.
Once the chicken is ready, shred it up.
In a small saucepan saute the two cans of salsa until its aromatic..about 2 min
Add salsa to chicken
Add the rest of the ingredients. Adding more cayenne and chicken bouillon to taste.

Garnish with cheese, sour cream, avacado, tomatoes and chips and hot sauce.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN...

I love love THIS BLOG, and check it often...when my mother in law was here she bought some balsamic vinegar for salads and we had a whole bunch left when she was gone, and I seriously do not know how to use up balsamic vinegar. Although I must say, I felt pretty darn grown up and fancy having a bottle just chillin' in the cupboard. ANYWAY, I saw this recipe in the archives of said blog and gave it a shot...oh my, who knew that a..ahem..balsamic reduction, could produce such yummy results?! first of all, how can you not feel like the coolest chef around making something that includes a balsamic reduction (just boiling the vinegar until it turns to syrup but still...)?
One tip, I have never done a reduction before and almost screwed it up, just let it boil away on high, it will eventually foam up, let it. After the foam subsides you'll have your syrup..so cool! Also, I uppped the vinegar content to 1 1/2C. It may seem like you wont have enough, but once you stick it under the broiler it thins out and coats the chicken...its very likened to teriyaki but more grown up and fancy tasting :)

balsamic chicken
6-8 skinless chicken thighs
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thinly
salt & pepper
1 T dried rosemary
1 c balsamic vinegar
6 cloves garlic, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a 9×13 baking dish, toss around onion slices and olive oil. Add chicken to dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary. Peek in on the chicken to make sure that the onions don’t burn up.

2. In a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar and garlic to a boil. Keep sauce boiling until it reduces into a nice thick, syrupy consistency. Turn off heat and set aside.

3. When chicken is cooked, about 45 minutes later, scrape up all the onion bits from the bottom of the dish to loosen all the yummy bits and then pour over balasamic vinegar sauce over the chicken. Set dish to broil for 2-3 minutes or until bubbly. Serve with sauce heaped over chicken.

AMAZING LEMON CHICKEN RECIPE!!!!!!!

Okay, so I love love lemony, caper-y, delicious chicken, but it always seems so scary to try to make, but fear not my friends..fear not. I have found the bomb recipe!! I wanted something quick, easy and very similar to a dish I had at a sicilian cafe here in chico. And this recipe totally hits the spot...I add a big huge squeeze of lemon over the top of everything...and we served this with angel hair pasta tossed with mozz. cheese and butter and some veggies...it does use a lot of butter...but really...butter isn't THAT bad for you...and the result is not at all heavy, in fact you feel like you're eating something super fresh, healthy and high class..which is pretty fantastic I must say...SO! here goes...Melt in your mouth lemon chicken.

Serves 6

20 min/ 10 min prep

FOR CHICKEN

about 3 boneless skinless chicken breast halved

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/3 cup of butter

2T olive oil

salt and pepper

FOR SAUCE

4T butter

4T parsley finely chopped

1 Lemon

1. Dry chicken and either pound it (or trim it really thin with poultry shears like I did) evenly flat. coat with flour

2. Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet over med/high heat

3. Cook chicken breast approx. 3 min on each side or until browned and cooked through

4. Remove chicken from skillet and season with salt/pepper. (keep warm in oven while you make the sauce)

5. Add remaining butter to skillet to melt while scraping up browned bits from the bottom

6. Remove from heat once melted and add parsley and juice from the lemon. Cut up some lemon into thin slices to serve as a garnish

7. Pour the sauce while it is still hot, over chicken and serve!!

Chai Concentrate

oh my...I am so so so so so so SO stoked about this latest recipe. I love reading the angrychicken blog, the author is Amy Karol and she lives in portland. Anyways, I saw a post she had for a chai concentrate and decided to give it a go. Its so simple, just sweetened condensed milk, spices and voila. I used an old jam jar that had a tight lid. It keeps in the fridge for six months!! Makes about 28 cups of tea and is so friggin' delicious. The perfect sweetness, spice, and cream....sometimes, just for fun, I add a splash of cream to make it super decadent. Here you go!

Chai Concentrate
makes 28 cups

Ingredients
•1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
•1 teaspoon granulated sugar
•1 teaspoon ground cardamom
•1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
•1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Empty condensed milk into a jar or plastic container with tight-fitting lid. Stir in the sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Store in refrigerator.

To use: Brew a cup of strong black tea, such as Assam, then add two heaping teaspoons of concentrate or more to taste. Stir well until concentrate has fully melted.

To give: Pour into small jars with lids and tie with an attractive bow, or wrap the jar first. Attach a tag with instructions to keep the mix refrigerated and how to use it.

To keep: Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

ZUPPA!!

Tuesday was tough, Mailey got the stomach flu, and it really hit at midnight, and between then and 7am she threw up 13x..whee. Then morning came, and with three hours of sleep I tried to brave the day..then 9pm hit and Em decided then would be as good a time as any to take her time on the puking merry-go-round..such good times...BUT! Tuesday was also a triumph because, 3 yrs ago, John and I went to the olive garden (yes its been 3 yrs since ive gone back, its expensive!) and I had this INCREDIBLE soup called zuppa tuscana, and I've dreamed about it ever since. Here in Chico, there is an olive garden right down the street and I've been dying to go, but babysitters are rare and we really couldn't swing it, so I found THIS recipe, and gave it a go, and my oh my, I cannot wait to make it again, it was incredible, everything I remembered and more!! I made it with THIS chicken alfredo recipe (it was yum but I had to add a lot of salt and cream cheese to really like it) and yes we totally carbed out, but it was so worth it...I cannot wait to make it again!!
p.s. kale is amazing...anyone know any really good kale recipes? I have a bunch left over and want to use it up!!!

Recipe of the week!! whoop whoop!!

So I LOVE great harvest pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, like I really, really like them, and we have a great harvest right down the street. Great harvest muffins are almost $3 dollars each...yikes. So, as much as I love pumpkin muffins I love my husband more and he definitely doesn't understand buying $3 dollar muffins ha ha, I found this recipe and MAN!! They taste exactly the same (possible better) and are quick :) enjoy! (If the fat content is just too much for you, there's a lite version available here, but seriously they're worth the fat!!!)

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
30 min | 10 min prep

30 muffins

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
20oz pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (yes, 1 1/4 cups)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus an extra handful or two) (Regular or mini, I like mini best)

In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth.
Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.

Recipe of the week..

Did I mention I'm in love with breakfast food? okay...so I love cooking and love finding recipes that don't need tweaking. I made this today and its super yum, super easy. I like to mix it all the night before, cover, refridgerate then bake it in the morning, it really does make for a nice soft almost cake texture. ENJOY!

Baked oatmeal

3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
additional brown sugar, for serving
additional milk, for serving

Mix all ingredients (except the additional brown sugar & additional milk) together.
Pour into a greased square glass baking dish and bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick tests clean.
Scoop each portion into a small bowl, then pour a splash of milk over each- it should be just enough to be absorbed by the oatmeal (not soupy).
Sprinkle each with some brown sugar to taste and serve warm.

Perfect Pancakes

I love love breakfast foods...I order breakfast for lunch, dinner, everything! But I've never really gotten on the pancake bandwagon, they're always dry and feel like they're choking me, you know? I follow the Angrychicken blog and she posted a blog with this recipe and mmm...these really are wonderful pancakes. I followed the recipe exactly, the key is to only heat your griddle or pan to medium heat, and to make little pancakes, I used about 1/4C everytime, they're sweet and fluffy and almost like a bread, like I think they'd be yummy with bacon and eggs sandwiched in between...anyways...I LOVED THEM! :) and the girls loved them and pretty much I wanted to share because I was so so so happy to find a recipe for pancakes that didn't need tweaking. BON APPETITE!!!!!

PERFECT PANCAKES

1C flour
2T sugar
2t baking powder
1/2t salt
1C milk
2T vegetable oil
1 large egg

mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl until no longer lumpy. Grease pan with butter and pour 1/4C batter onto hot pan, flip when bubbles appear on sides.