All posts for the month June, 2011

whoopie pies

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last week my coworker and i were talking and he told me that apparently whoopie pies are going to be the new cupcake.  what!?!?!  i love cupcakes.  but you know what… i love whoopie pies too! 

i actually hadn’t ever heard of whoopie pies until i went to maine with chris.  whoopie pies are all over maine and they have all different kinds.  chocolate and peanut butter, the classic chocolate and vanilla filling, and red velvet ones.  yummy! 

the last time that i made whoopie pies they were red velvet and heart shaped.  this time i decided to go back to basics and made the classic chocolate marshmallow whoopie pies.  i think they turned out pretty good but i have to figure out a way to make the cookies more uniformed.  many of them were ovals and just kind of funny shaped.  oops!  oh and this recipe made a million… okay well maybe not a million but a whole lot of whoopie pies.  i think i just made mine a little smaller than they were supposed to be, but i actual prefer this size because i think it would a little too much if they were any bigger.  so i don’t know… oh well.

i’ll be bringing these to work tomorrow for our potluck.  we’ll see if my coworkers agree that whoopie pies are the new cupcake or if i’ll get any requests to just bring cupcakes next time. 

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by miki on June 29, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by miki on June 29, 2011

https://heymikiheymiki.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/whoopie-pies/

baked creamy chicken taquitos

i first saw this recipe a while ago on our best bites but i didn’t really think too much about them.  but then i saw them on blog after blog and it consistently got rave reviews.  so i decided to try out these baked creamy chicken taquitos for a potluck that we’re having tomorrow at work and for dinner tonight.  well all the blogs were right!  these are the most flavorful taquitos i’ve ever had.  i hope everyone at work likes them too!

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by miki on June 29, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by miki on June 29, 2011

https://heymikiheymiki.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos/

pizza bites

last week while grocery shopping i decided to pick up some mozzarella cheese and pepperoni to make these pizza bites that i saw on annie’s eats.  and then a couple days ago my friend tammy made them.  great minds think alike, because tonight i made the pizza bites and they were absolutely delicious!  chris, my boyfriend/fiance (yes, he finally has a name on this blog.  haha) and i gobbled them up.

oh but i did change the recipe a little bit.  i used my go to pizza dough recipe instead of the one included in the recipe.  i also switched out turkey pepperoni for the regular kind.  it is a bit healthier and tastes just as yummy.  oh and instead of the olive oil/italian seasoning topping, i brushed garlic butter on top. so i guess this recipe can really be seen as more of a technique than a strict recipe because you can change up the dough, the fillings, and the topping.  we’re excited to make some pizza bites with sausage and maybe even ham and cheddar.  the possibilities are endless!

to make these delicious pizza bites, first start off with a batch of your favorite pizza dough …

then get your pepperoni and mozzarella cubes ready…

next divide the dough into 20-24 pieces.  one piece at a time, flatten it out a little and lay a couple pieces of pepperoni and then a cube of cheese on to the dough.  pinch together the edges so the cheese and pepperoni are completely sealed by the dough.  repeat with the rest of the pieces of dough.

     

arrange the pizza bites in a 9 in. pie pan.  and brush the top of the bites with garlic butter and sprinkle on some parmesan cheese…

  

bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes…

serve with marinara sauce and enjoy these ooey gooey cheesy pepperoni pizza bites. 🙂

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by miki on June 28, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by miki on June 28, 2011

https://heymikiheymiki.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/pizza-bites/

strawberry pocket pies

today my boyfriend (well i guess he’s now my fiance!) and i went strawberry picking out in virigina.  it was so much fun picking tons and tons of berries.  plus these strawberries are just so much more flavorful than store bought ones that are unnaturally large and perfectly shaped.  the farm was beautiful and i can’t wait to go back to pick other fruits.  they said there will be peaches, apples, and some other fruits coming soon.  yay!

anyway, back to the beautiful strawberries that we picked today… we will be eating most of them fresh but i did want to try out a new recipe with them.  my mom sent me this awesome heart shaped pocket pie mold that i wanted to use.  perfect!

i couldn’t wait to use it to make strawberry pocket pies.  the mold was awesome, it worked like a cookie cutter to ensure the pie crust the perfect shape, plus it helped you press the pie crusts together to make the absolute cutest little pocket pie.  amazing!

first i made the crust and the strawberry filling…

after letting the crust rest and chill and the filling cool down for 2 hours, i rolled out the dough, cut out the heart shaped pie crusts and started assembling the pockets…

     

then they were ready to freeze for 30 minutes then bake for 15-20 minutes…

  

all pau!

aren’t they adorable!  i especially love the little heart shaped vent.  plus this pocket pie is soooo good.  the crust is light and flaky and the filling is pure strawberry goodness.  enjoy!

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by miki on June 18, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by miki on June 18, 2011

https://heymikiheymiki.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/strawberry-pocket-pies/

strawberry freezer jam

i had never heard of freezer jam before but it kept popping up on different blogs.  it looked really easy so i figured i’d give it a try, especially since berries are really inexpensive right now. making freezer jam is a great introduction to making jam because it is much simpler than using the traditional jam making and canning processes.  plus, if you use liquid pectin you don’t have to cook anything.  crazy!  just mix the crushed strawberries, a whole lot of sugar, lemon juice and pectin together and then you have jam!  okay, well there are actually  few more steps but still it’s really really simple.

you know what is so wonderful about this jam is that it tastes just like fresh strawberries since the strawberries are not cooked.  but the jam is a bit too sweet but what can you expect with 4, yes i said 4 cups of sugar!  still we just tested out the jam by making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a freshly baked sweet bread roll and it was amazing!!!

this jam will last 3 weeks in the refrigerator and 1 year in the freezer.  awesome!

instead of posting a recipe, i’ll just post a few pictures of the steps of making this jam.  you really should just follow the freezer jam instructions that is the included in the packet of pectin because it varies so much depending on the pectin you are using.  there is liquid, powdered, no sugar, low sugar, freezer jam pectin, etc.  although i used liquid pectin this time, i would suggest using no or low sugar pectin because this one required sooo much sugar and you can’t reduce it or the jam won’t set up correctly.

yummy strawberries!!!  rinse, stem, and crush the strawberries…

get your jars ready…

mix the crushed/pureed strawberries with the sugar.  let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  then mix the pectin with the lemon juice.  stir that into the strawberry sugar mixture – mix for 3 minutes...

pour the jam into jars.  allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours.  store in the refrigerator or freezer and enjoy!

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by miki on June 6, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by miki on June 6, 2011

https://heymikiheymiki.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/strawberry-freezer-jam/

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