A Recipe...Mostly for me so that I don't forget it

Not the greatest presentation, but it tasted really good. 

So I made a dish tonight for dinner that I want to write down somewhere so that I don't forget it.

I cooked a boneless, skinless chicken thigh by this recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/chicken-breasts-in-parchment-paper-479485. Only used salt, pepper, and the lemon (not sure if it added anything to the taste in the end). Need to cook it for 20-30 minutes to make it more tender. 20 minutes is enough, but the thigh won't be that tender.

In a separate parchment pouch, put some cauliflower and grated carrots. Drizzle with a little oil. Place in oven for 20 minutes. Stagger with the chicken if necessary.

Once all in the oven, make a half-recipe worth of this teriyaki sauce: https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/teriyaki-chicken/. Add equal amounts of brown sugar and honey (an addition to the recipe). The honey is needed to add more sweetness, which I feel the original recipe is lacking. Also add red pepper flakes.

When the chicken is done, shred it or cut it into small pieces. Toss everything together.

This would go really well with steamed rice.

Grandma's One Egg Cake Recipe

Hi everyone!

I want to share another one of my grandmother's dessert recipes. Like her butter cookie recipe, we don't know where she got this one from. I'm not going to lie. This is not the most spectacular vanilla cake I've ever had. But if you have limited ingredients, it works well.

One Egg Cake

½ stick of butter

½ cup sugar

1 cup flour (sifted 3 times)

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Sprinkles (optional)

1. Grease or butter a 8" x 8" cake pan. Add parchment paper to the bottom of the pan if desired. (This will help with removal of the cake.)
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Sift flour 3 times with baking powder and salt.
4. Add egg to butter/sugar mix. Beat well.
5. Add flour alternating with milk, beat well after each addition.
6. Add vanilla.
7. [Optional] Fold in sprinkles for a confetti cake.
8. Transfer to the pan and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester (e.g. knife, toothpick, piece of uncooked spaghetti, etc) comes out clean.
9. Once cooled, remove from the pan and add icing if desired.

For the cake I made in the picture, I used the Quick and Almost-Professional Buttercream Icing recipe from All Recipes. It was quick and easy, which was what I needed when I made the cake.

Cheers!

Grandma's Butter Cookie Recipe

Hi everyone! This is my grandmother's butter cookie recipe. We don't know how she came in possession of the recipe. My grandmother was not a chef, so we don't think she made it up herself. Either way, it has been a family staple since the 1940s.

And I want to share it with the world. :)

Be sure to read to the bottom for my recommended cookie press.

A stand mixer or hand-held mixer is recommended for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb butter
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (chef's choice)
Food coloring, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300F. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
4. Combine the dry ingredients (flour and salt) and sift them together.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Mix after each addition.
6. Add the extract.
7. Divide dough and color with food coloring if desired.
8. Fill a cookie press and form into desired shapes on an ungreased, cold cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 300F for 6 minutes or until the cookies lose their gloss.
10. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 1-2 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack.

Yield: approximately 48 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie press.

Helpful notes:

• Do not use lemon extract with this recipe. Use fresh lemon juice, instead, if you want a lemon cookie. I don't know how much juice to add. I've never made it this way. This was just a note my grandmother included in the recipe card.
• Experiment with loading two or three differently colored dough in the cookie press at the same time. This will give a marbled, streaky look like the cookies shown here. Every cookie will be unique. 😀
• The baking time could be as long as 7 minutes. After 6 minutes, if they are still glossy, bake for another 30 seconds and check them. If they need it, bake for 30 seconds more. Then remove them.
• Baking for this short amount of time will result in a "melt in your mouth" cookie. 
• The cookies will NOT have a golden color around their edges. If you bake them to this point, they will be dry and crumbly.
• Letting them sit on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes will give them time to firm up a bit, which will help when transferring them to the cooling rack.
• If you only have one baking sheet, or only want to use one, wipe the baking sheet with a dry paper towel before using it for a second round of baking. This will help remove some of the grease left behind from the first round of cookies.

My Recommended Cookie Press

• Marcato 8307 Atlas Deluxe Biscuit Maker Cookie Press (link goes to Amazon)
• The cookie press I use is the Marcato 8300 Atlas. I think it has been discontinued, but the 8307 is the replacement.
• This is in no way a sponsored posted. I have gone through several cookie presses that don't stand up to use. They break after about 3 or 4 batches of cookies. I have had my Marcato Atlas since graduate school (2012-2014) and it is still holding strong.

If you make this, let me know how it goes. Tag me @agirlandheryarn on Instagram!

Happy baking!

Decadent Strawberry Fudge Recipe

This is my favorite stove-made fudge to make. Although I've never tried it (because I don't like chocolate), I've been told it tastes a bit like strawberry sherbet. 

Preparation – 10 minutes

Cooking – 20 minutes

Cooling Time – 3 hours to Overnight

Yields – 24 servings (2 pieces per serving)

Ingredients:

·      2 ½ cups granulated sugar

·      ⅔ cup (5 oz. can) evaporated milk

·      ½ cup (1 stick) butter

·      2 cups (11-12 oz. package) white chocolate chips

·      1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème (or fluff)

·      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·      ½ teaspoon imitation strawberry extract

·      3 drops of red food coloring

Directions:

Cooking Preparation – Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with foil, extending over the edges of the dish.

Cooking – Combine the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter in a heavy-duty saucepan. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, making sure that the bottom of the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture boils. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to boil at a moderate, steady rate without stirring until the thermometer reaches 238°F (softball stage), about 15 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a steady boil. Once the mixture has reached softball stage, remove from heat. Stir in the chocolate chips, marshmallow crème, vanilla, and strawberry extract until the mixture is well combined. Add the 3 drops of food coloring and stir until the color is swirled, not completely uniform. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Cool until firm (3 hours to overnight).

Final Preparation – Lift the foil from the pan. Remove the foil. Cut into 1-inch square pieces. Store tightly covered.

Cheers!

Quick and Easy Fudge Recipe

I want to try something a little different and share a recipe I love making. Since I don't like chocolate, I can only go by the words of my friends, but they swear by my fudge. It always disappears soon after I reveal it to them. The recipe is easily adaptable and adjustable to different tastes. I'm going to give you the variation of the recipe that my friends seem to like the most. 

Dark Chocolate and Orange Zest Fudge

Time: a few minutes

Rest time: a few hours to overnight

Makes about 20 1" x 1" pieces

Ingredients:

One 10 or 11 oz. package of dark chocolate chips (either size will work)

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (one 14 oz. can is actually 1 and 1/3 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The zest of a medium orange (about a tablespoon, although you can decrease this for a milder taste)

Line an 8" x 8" pan with aluminum foil such that you can later easily lift the foil (with the fudge) out of the pan. Combine all ingredients into a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for one minute. Use a spatula to stir all ingredients to combine. If not all of the chocolate has melted, put the bowl back into the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until all the chocolate has melted (I've never had to put it in for anything more than 1 minute 30 seconds total. Usually, the chocolate has melted with the first minute.). Quickly pour the fudge into the prepared pan and spread it out with a spatula to an even layer. Let stand on the counter for a few hours (3-4 or so) or overnight (I prefer this option) to let it set up. Once it has set up, lift the foil out of the pan. Use a knife (doesn't need to be sharp; a butter knife would work) to cut pieces. Enjoy!

Tips:

• I would advise against putting the fudge in the fridge in order to hasten hardening. When I have done this, it has resulted in a fudge that is almost too hard to cut. Also, I would be concerned about condensation possibly forming on the fudge, which would not be a good thing.
• A pizza cutter also works very well for cutting pieces.
• If you decide to use white chocolate chips for this recipe, use a little LESS sweetened condensed milk. Don't fill the 1/3 cup all the way to the top. It has been my experience in the past that using all 2/3 cup produces fudge that will not harden up.
• Since one can of sweetened condensed milk is double what you need, why not make two batches of fudge!

Variations on the recipe:

• You can swap the dark chocolate for milk or semisweet chips and ditch the zest for plain chocolate fudge.
• Lightly roasting about a cup of almond slivers and using white chocolate chips gives a nice nutty variation to the recipe. 

Use your imagination for more variations. Cheers!  :)