Dave Mathews Band

Another concert done....we went to see Dave Mathews Band on August 20th, 2010. It was at the outdoor ampitheater just aorund the corner from our house. It was really, really good.

I had never been to DMB before and it was quite and experience! Especially being in southern California....I had the WORST headache of my life just after the concert started and I was so dizzy and sick to my stomach I could hardly stand....thank you SoCal and you love of weed.

But I was cool just sitting there on our blanket listening to the music. D and I want to find a live album on CD so we can listen to it more often. It was a first for both of us! I wish I would have taken some picuters, but I totally forgot!

So that makes 3 for the year and I am right on track for finishing my 5 concerts for my 101!!!

Oreo Cupy-cakes

Yet again, I am on a baking kick and I wanted to make these totally yummy cupy-cakes…thanks to Homemade by Holman yet again for the recipe.


Sunday night was Hell Week Breakout for the BUDS students that D works and trains with. BUDS students are Navy SEAL students in just their 4th week of 1 ½ year long training. So they still have a very long road ahead of them and more than likely 90% won’t make it. That is just how it is.

But I digress….since it was Breakout and I had never been I wanted to go with D and see what it was all about. I knew the fellas would be hungry and instead of having D take the cupy-cakes in the next morning, I decided to take them in with me that night so I could see their faces when I walked in…I practically got attacked at the door!!!

We took about 1 ½ dozen with us last night and at least ½ were gone by the time we left…and we were only in the shop for about 2 hours total. I guess they really liked them!

They even have a yummy double stuff Oreo in the bottom!!!

Oreo Cupy-Cakes

By Homemade by Holman

Cake:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 2/3 cups sugar

3 large egg whites

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

36 Oreo cookies

Get your oven toasty at 350. Get 2 muffin pans lined with your papers and seperate 24 Oreo cookies. Place 1/2 Oreo, creme side up in each cup. Add the other halves to the remaining Oreos in either your food processor or ziploc bag to crush them up. I used a ziploc and just crushed them in my hands. Easy and less mess to clean up. Make sure you get a good amount or different sized cookie chunks...not all crumbs but not all huge either.

Now in a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat on medium for 2 to 3 minuts until light a fluffy! Agg egg whites one at a time and mix well after each addition. Next, sift togheter your flour, salt and powder. Add milk and vanilla together in a measuring cup and gently mix.

With mixer on lower speed, add 1/3 of your flour mixture alternated by 1/2 of your milk mixture, mixing well after each addition. Repeat and end with flour. After that it is time to mix in your Oreo cookie chunks!

Now you can fill each cup 2/3 full. I again used my Pampered Chef medium scoop and it was perfect. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until tops are gold and toothpicks come out clean when inserted into the cupy-cake. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 T vanilla extract

2 T heavy cream

1 lb powdered sugar

24 Oreos for garnish

Beat butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl on medium speed until it is smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and cream and beat until well incorporated. Now comes the fun part of the powdered sugar. I sifted mine before adding because I find it is so much smoother and creamier, but to each his own. Add your sugar 1 cup at a time and mix well after each addition.

Fill piping bad and decorate!

I used yummy double stuff Oreos in the bottom and mini bite size Oreos on top of the cream cheese frosting.

The only suggestion that I have after making them would be to used slightly more powdered sugar that called for, just to make it thicker, Pam the papers cups, and not cook them quite as long. The recipe called for 18 to 20 minutes and I did right at 18 and I think I probably could have done about 15 or 16.…maybe. They were a little too toasty for me.

Really fabulous other wise.

I even managed to save a few to keep at the house for D and I to enjoy.

One more concert down!!!

So far I am well on my way to finishing my 101 concerts this year. With Time McGraw in June, Disturbed in September, Garth in October and seeing Toby Keith and Trace Adkins this past weekend, I just need 1 more to go to!

Saturday night D and I went to see Toby and Trace again and it was phenomenal! We saw them this time last year just after we moved to SD and it was so good we had to see them again. And strangely enough, we saw several people sporting their OU gear at the concert…way to rock it OU fans!!!!

Just like last year, the fellas did an outstanding job and gave a huge shout out to the fire fighters, police, border patrol, FBI, CIA, DEA, and military. It is so nice to be appreciated like that. Being a military wife makes me so proud and I can never thank my husband enough for doing what he does day in and day out, but to hear someone so famous take their hat off to my husband and every other service member out there just makes my heart melt!

Trace put on a really great show, but we were really there to see Mr. Keith himself! He had a ton of fireworks and explosive things going off, it was really neat. For his encore he came out singing his huge hit America Soilder and then he brought Trace out and sang Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue. It was so good!!! The crowd just went wild and you could see that everyone was really into it.We had so much fun that night! We didn’t have great seats, but it was outside and we could enjoy the weather and listen to some great music and sing along to our hearts content! I just can’t wait to see all the other concerts this year!!!

All about Stieg...

Stieg Larsson that is. I just finished the 3 books he wrote just before passing and let me say that they rocked my socks off! I bought them on a whim while looking through Amazon a few months back. I am not really sure why I bought them, but I am sure glad I did!

They are called, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Okay, I know what you are thinking…those sound so weird!

Well in fact they were written in Swedish so perhaps there is some meaning lost in translation, but the first title really does fit well with the book. So, it is really hard to describe what they are about, but it is your classic mystery, who done it and why type of novel, thrown in a little conspiracy theory, journalistic figures and computer hacking and you have yourself a really great series.

The first 2 books took me a minute to get into because they are placed in Sweden and so many of the words are towns and street with 12 letters in it, none of which being vowels. So I would try to pronouce them but after a while I just gave up. But once I gave up on trying to read those weird words, I couldn’t put it down. And by the time I got to the third one I was dying to finish it!!

So for a quick summary, here is what is listed online:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomqvist is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Vanger’s great-niece Harriet. Henrik suspects that someone in his family, the powerful Vanger clan, murdered Harriet over forty years ago.

Starting his investigation, Mikael realizes that Harriet’s disappearance is not a single event, but rather linked to series of gruesome murders in the past. He now crosses paths with Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker, an asocial punk and most importantly, a young woman driven by her vindictiveness.

Together they form an unlikely couple as they dive deeper into the violent past of the secretive Vanger family

The Girl who Played with Fire

Lisbeth Salander is wanted for a triple murder. All three victims are connected to a trafficking exposé about to be published in Mikael Blomqvist’s magazine Millenium, and Lisbeth’s fingerprints are on the weapon.

Lisbeth vanishes to avoid capture by the justice. Mikael, not believing the police, is despairingly trying to clear her name, using all his resources and the staff of his magazine. During this process, Mikael discovers Lisbeth’s past, a terrible story of abuse and traumatizing experiences growing up in the Swedish care system.

When he eventually finds her, it’s only to discover that she is far more entangled in his initial investigation of the sex industry than he could ever imagine.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Two seriously injured people arrive at the emergency ward of the Sahlgrensa hospital in Gothenburg. One is the wanted murderer Lisbeth Salander who has taken a bullet to the head and needs immediate surgery, the other is Alexander Zalachenko, an older man who Lisbeth has attacked with an axe.

In this third novel in the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth is planning her revenge against the men who tried to kill her, and even more importantly, revenge against the government which nearly destroyed her life. But first she must escape from the intensive care unit and exculpate her name from the charges of murder that hangs over her head.

In order to succeed with the latter, Lisbeth will need the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist. He is writing an exposing article that will shake the Swedish government, the secret service and the whole country by its foundations. Finally there is a chance for Lisbeth Salander to put her past behind her and finally there is a chance for truth and justice to prevail.

And I have heard that Hollywood is making them into a movie. Sweden has already done so and apparently they were a hit. Rumor has it that the main male character in the Hollywood version is going to be Daniel Craig….which after reading the books, I think he would be PERFECT as the main character!!!! I cannot wait to see it come to life in the theaters!

3 more books off my 101!!!

A week of dinners and new recipes!

Here is another 101 off my list. Last week I made dinner for D at least twice that week. It was actually 4 days that week…Sunday to Thursday, but that works too.

Monday I tried out a new recipe…Almond crusted chicken with Balsamic honey glaze. D.E.L.I.S.H….times 10.

Really fabulous. I found it here at one of my new favorite sites, Loves to Eat. She has a ton of totally yummy dinners, desserts and everything else! I found this recipe in the Light and Healthy section.

She used these fancy type of bread crumbs called Panko crumbs. I had heard of them before but never tried them. But I plan on buying them from now on. They were really great. I like them by far over regular bread crumbs and even Oven Fry. I will used these as a substitute from now on.

So the recipe calls for:
4 chicken boneless, skinless, slightly beaten chicken breasts
¼ cup Panko Crumbs (which I found was not nearly enough, so I just poured in about ½ the container)
Egg beaters (I guess you could also use egg whites)
Some seasonings
¼ slivered, diced almonds (I just bought a pack of slivered almonds in the baking section and rough chopped them up again to get them smaller).

Get your eggs in one bowl, chicken ready to rock, and all other ingredients ready in another bowl and set up your assembly line!

I first dipped my chicken into the eggs, then into the crumb mixture coating each side. Then they went to a Pammed and foil linde cookies sheet and into the over they went.

While that was cooking I started my glaze. I was a little skeptical about the glaze because it was made out of vinegar and vinegar has such a strong sent to it. But hey, I gave it a go.

Glaze
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup orange juice
1 1/2 tbs honey

Mix all glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil to reduce sauce by half. Spoon over finished chicken.

The sauce was ok I thought, and I can probably do with out. It made a TON, so next time I will do just a half batch because D did really enjoy it. He said he was real crazy about the almonds in the chicken coating. So I served it up with a salad and some mashed taters.

Tuesday night I made another dish off here called Lightened up Chicken Parm. Again really fabulous and super simple.

4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tbs tomato paste
Fresh herbs
Mozzarella cheese (shredded or sliced)
Panko crumbs (I bought the Italian seasoned kind)
Dijon mustard
Whole wheat penne pasta (or your choice of whole wheat pasta)
½ chopped white onion
1 green bell pepper, chopped
Olive oil

Get your oven all warm and toasty and a baking sheet coated with Pam. Take your olive oil, onions and peppers and throw them in a medium skillet that has a lid to fit. Cook them so that the onions become soft and translucent. Next add your crushed tomatoes and paste. Let that come to a simmer over about 20 minutes.

Next get your assembly line of Panko, chicken and mustard ready and dip, dip and place on sheet. Throw those in the oven when you are done.

Meanwhile, have your pasta water going so that you can time it all together. The chicken takes about 20 minutes all together and your pasta shouldn’t take more than 15.

During the last few minutes of baking, remove your chicken and spoon on some of your homemade pasta sauce, just on the top. And then place your mozzarella on top (I used slices since that is what I already had and I used ½ slice on each piece). Return to the over for another 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven, place on bed of drained pasta and pasta sauce. Viola….done!

Wednesday I made that amazing lemon spaghetti like I did 2 weeks ago from here but this time I used shrimp instead of chicken. Not so crazy about the shrimp. I mean I love shrimp, but it just didn’t hold up enough of the flavor like the chicken did. D agreed with me on that fact too, so from now on, that is strictly a chicken kind of recipe.

Thursday night we did a very low key dinner with D grilling steaks and me making some homemade steak fries. Very simple, very good.

So that is my week of dinners for D as well as a new recipe for the month of August!

Making whoopie.....

Whoopie Pies that is! Lol!!

I made another fabulous dessert for D to take in to work last night and they were pretty yum if I do say so myself. I found this on Bakerella's website, along with tons of other goodies!!

I must say that I was pretty pleased with the outcome, but I would make one or 2 small adjustements to the process. I had never had whoopies pies before so the problems that I had maybe a totally normal "whoopie" experience, but not so much my taste. I mean they were good, but not moist cake that I like.

Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pie Cakes
Bakerella via Whoopie Pies!

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Now...get your oven all warm and toasty at 375 degrees. Prepare your baking sheet by lining it with some parchment/wax paper. I would recommend getting to pans going at a time. In a smaller bowl (not teeny but not really medium) sift together your flour, cocoa, salt and baking SODA. I always get soda and powder mixed up so make sure you use SODA.

In your mixer bowl, beat your room temperatrie butter with the shortening and sugar on low until it is just combined. After combined, increase your speed to medium and continue about 3 minutes. Make sure you have scraped everything off the walls and bottom of your bowl so everything gets incorporated.

Next, add your 1 egg and vanilla (I probably used more about 2 tsp...I don't measure vanilla, I just pour it in) and mix it for 2 more minutes. The recipe calls to add half your milk and half your flour mixture next. It gets a little messy so I would do it in quarters if I were to make it again. And make sure you scrape your bowl really well. The flour tends to crawl up the sides of the bowl. Repeat when combined and again beat until it is all mixed together.

Now you are ready to put your whoopies on the baking sheet! I used my fabulous medium Pampered Chef cookie scoop and went to town.

Done...now time to get my pies cookin'!! Cook for 10 minutes or until your pies spring back when pressed gently. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before adding filling.

1 Tbsp of batter should make about 48 two-inch cakes or 24 pies
2 Tbsp of batter should make about 30 four-inch cakes or 15 pies.

Salty Peanut Butter Filling
from Whoopie Pies

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Now for the ultra smooth filling!

Beat your pb and butter on low in your mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and salt on low to incorporate. Increase your mixer speed to medium and beat 4 to 5 minutes until your filling is light anf fluffy.

Fill a pastry bag with your filling. You can just take a spoon and plop the filling on your pies, but I think a pastry bag makes it nicer looking and less messy. I added some extra PB and chocolate chips for a special surprise inside!

Place your second pie on top and gently press down. DONE!!

Keep whoopies stored in air tight container.

Now, for some of my notes. I found the pies a little too rich and dry. They tasted more like a devil's food cake than just a regular cake. I think next time I may add a little applesauce (like one of the individula cups) to add a little more moisture. I think it would help with the richness a little too.

Second, I recommed using multiple cookies sheets if you are able to fit more than on in your oven at a time. With this recipe and my medium scoop I got almost 36 pies, or 18 whoopies. As I scooped out each batch, the last 2 had some pies that didn't quite look right...almost like they were melted. I think the batter and soda in it got a little crazy and were just funny. I don't know how else to describe it other than that.

Third...the filling. I have 2 suggestions here. While the orignial recipe is ridiculously good, I found it a little too Peanut Butter. I base that on D's reaction when I gave him a bit to taste. He goes, "Mmm....wow, peanut butter!" I asked him if it was ok and he said yea, it was just really peanut butter. So I think next time I may cut back on the PB. I also thought it was a little soft, too soft to pipe, in my opinion. So I added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra powdered sugar to stiffen it up. That didn't do a lot, so I threw it in the fridge. That really helped a lot. Next time I make these I am going to do the filling first so it has plenty of time to thicken a little.

So those were my suggestions for the whoopies. I hope D's coworkers enjoy them!!