The Minnesota State Fair (otherwise known as The Great Minnesota Get Together) is a must go event for hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners each summer. Held the two weeks before Labor Day, it’s an annual celebration of summer, fun, and really, really good food. While there are plenty of things to do at the fair that don’t involve food, I would say that for many people, the food is the fair experience at it’s finest. This week, Lane and I are teaming up with six amazing fellow food bloggers to bring you a collection of Minnesota State Fair Copycat Recipes! These fantastic foodies have recipes for all of the great fair foods (see the links below) and we’re joining in with a new recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donuts. …
Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispies Bites with Dulce de Leche
Recently I’ve been looking for more ways to get my four year old into the kitchen cooking with me. He loves to help mix up cookies and chop veggies but as he’s gotten a little older, I wanted to find a cooking project he could do largely on his own. As I sat staring into my pantry yesterday, I spied a box of Rice Krispies and a bag of marshmallows and I realized, what could be easier than classic Rice Krispies Treats? Aside from the melting of the butter and marshmallow, those perfect little pillows of marshallow-y goodness really don’t require much in the way of kitchen skill. So there I was, all set to make a batch with my kiddo when he got home from preschool when I noticed the bag of bittersweet chocolate chips staring at me from the shelf below the marshmallows. And that’s when my plans took a quick turn. While I do intend to get my little guy in the kitchen to make some classic Rice Krispies treats soon, I decided in that moment that my chocolate craving was winning and needed to be addressed ASAP. Thus was born my new favorite indulgence: Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispies Bites with Dulce de Leche. …
Easy Glazed Lemon Bread
Like most people, every now and then I get a craving for something slightly outside of my regular food rotation and I need to have it now. When I was pregnant with my daughter, those cravings involved milk (not something I typically love) and veggie subs (so random). This past weekend, I was sitting in my kitchen and looked over on the counter to see a whole bag of fresh lemons that I had picked up at Costco on a whim. I was suddenly struck by the feeling that I needed to have some lemon bread as soon as possible. As I dug out my go to recipe for quick breads, I realized that there was one big hurdle to my lemon bread dreams: I was out of butter. Now, as a food blogger and home cook, that was a major oops. And since my husband was out running errands and I was home with the kids, my choices were to either take the kids to Target for butter or get creative and make something up. Since I’d rather suffer the consequences of an unfulfilled dessert craving than brave the craziness that is Target on a Sunday afternoon, I opened up my fridge and got to work. The result of that kitchen experimentation was this Easy Glazed Lemon Bread. …
Lemon Rosemary Shortbread
Well, it’s been a crazy few days around here. As many of you know, Lane spent the last week in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. In a fun twist of fate, we actually had booked overlapping trips and had great plans for a fun dinner out in the land of sunshine. Unfortunately, I was caught up in the spectaular Delta scheduling debacle last weekend and my flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix was ultimately cancelled and we didn’t make it to Arizona in time to reschedule. I decided to drown my sorrows in some baked goods. Enter: Lemon Rosemary Shortbread.
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Baking Substitutions-A Science Project
A slight hiatus from our normal Wednesday Good Food Reads, which I promise will be back next week.
Recently my 14-year-old daughter came to me about a science project she was going to do for her 8th grade science class. She had chosen to look at basic substitutions you could use while baking, as she is an avid baker. In fact I buy her a baking oriented cookbook every year for Christmas. (Clearly I’m winning at parenting as I’m definitely reaping those rewards!).
She worked diligently on this project one fall afternoon at the cabin. There was a lot of measuring, weighing, and even testing of resistance (it’s good to have a dad who is an electrical engineer and loves to teach scientific principle!). I had promised she could post her results on the blog when she had them written up, and now I am going to deliver. My only other contribution was to buy four different colored cupcake liners so we wouldn’t confuse the four groups. Read on for my daughter’s science project in her own words. Baking Substitutions: A Fun Science Project is below. Proud mom moment…hope you enjoy it as much as I did! …
Maple Granola with Quinoa and Cranberries
Today, I want to talk about granola. Maple Granola with Quinoa and Cranberries, to be exact. I have a long love affair with good granola. Yes, I will admit it. I am a total granola snob. None of that dry, crumbly and bland boxed business. When I was 16 years old, I spent the better part of my summer living at a camp on the beautiful west coast of Norway. In addition to immersing myself in local language and culture, I was treated to a season of amazing Scandinavian foods. From smorbrød (open faced sandwiches) to gjeitøst (Norwegian brown cheese with an amazing caramel like flavor!) and, of course, lefse, I loved every bit of it. One of my favorite meals, though simple, was beautiful local yogurt sprinkled with homemade granola and drizzled with some honey. …
Apple French Toast Bake
We just celebrated my very favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but for me it wasn’t just the Thanksgiving dinner, but also all of the other meals that made the weekend so special. I hosted the Thanksgiving holiday at my cabin, and that meant that I also needed breakfast for a crowd. Apple French Toast Bake is one I’ve been making for a few years, and is both adult and kid approved. And the very best thing about it? Not only is it foolproof, but you make it ahead of time!…
Fancy Carrot Cake Muffins
I’ve been craving something sweet lately. Something to fit with the spice of the fall season. Something simple that my whole family would enjoy. And then I remembered these Fancy Carrot Cake Muffins. And who doesn’t love great tasting baked goods full of healthy veggies?…
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Despite my frequently dessert heavy focus on the blog, I actually don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Give me a plate of hot, salty fries or crunchy chips any day over a donut or pastry. That being said, one sweet treat that I usually can’t pass up is a good Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. I am, however, very particular about the cookies: they need to be chewy, slightly salty, and with a good dose of chocolate. I absolutely adore the mini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies found at Potbelly and recently set out to create a similar cookie at home. You know, so I don’t have to drive anywhere to get them when the craving really strikes!…
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Muffins. Oh, how I love you. And oh how very picky I am about muffins. Why? Well, if I’m going to eat cake for breakfast (because, let’s face it, they really are just unfrosted cupcakes that we all pretend are not desserts), I want them to be juuuuuust right. Not too sweet, definitely not too dry, and studded with the sweetest bits of tart fruit. After a long search, I’ve finally found a recipe for the best Lemon Blueberry Muffins and I’m going to share it with you today. You’re welcome.
I’ve long been a fan of America’s Test Kitchen and a few years ago was given a copy of their Family Cookbook (I use this edition; here is a link to the newest one). Like just about everything ATK does, this cookbook is filled with great, near foolproof recipes for just about anything you could want. One of my favorite finds in that book is the recipe for “Big Beautiful Muffins.” You guys, you have to have make these muffins. They are super easy to make and (scout’s honor!) turn out perfectly every time. I love to make a double batch and freeze them for later – 20 seconds in a microwave and they make a perfectly fresh on-the-go breakfast!…