Caramel Krispie Treats

Rice Krispies are a staple of childhood. Believe it or not, this was my first time making them in my adult life.

Caramel Krispie Treats



This recipe is pretty standard, as far as I can tell. I used the recipe on the side of the Rice Krispies box, and I doubled it for good measure (any leftovers can be sent to the office). Of course, I am sharing the standard recipe, not the doubled. These only exist because of an impulse buy I made a couple of weeks ago. I was in the grocery store and saw these:




And I picked them up, knowing that I could make SOMETHING with them that would be delicious. They also had a chocolate variety, but I was not as excited about those, so I did not grab any. I apologize that the picture is just of the empty bag--I forgot to photograph them until I had already melted the mallows.

These tasted like caramel corn--but better, in my opinion (and Walter's). I am going to be bringing them to my father-in-law's 50th birthday party tomorrow.

Ingredients
-3 Tablespoons butter (I used 4 Tablespoons)
-6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
-1 10-ounce bag marshmallows or 4 cups mini-marshmallows (I, of course, used 1 10-ounce bag of caramel swirl marshmallows)

Directions
1. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.
2. Stir in marshmallows and melt, stirring often, until completely smooth. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in Rice Krispies. Stir mixture until fully combined.
4. Press Rice Krispie treats into a foil-lined, greased 9 x 13 pan.
5. When cool, cut treats into squares and serve.

Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is my fall-back lunch. If we have no leftovers, I make a batch and eat on it for a couple of days. I like to experiment with it, and this is my best recipe so far, hands down.

Chicken Salad



I have a secret ingredient that makes this the best chicken salad ever. That ingredient is bacon. Not real bacon, but this:



It makes it fantastic, especially with the tomato. And the jalapeno adds just a little kick to it. Oh, I could eat this for every meal.

Ingredients
-1 9-ounce can white meat chicken
-1 medium onion
-8 dill pickle hamburger-cut slices
-5 slices of jarred jalapeno
-1 small vine tomato
-1 small red bell pepper
-3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
-1/8 teaspoon bacon salt
-Dash of cinnamon
-Curry powder, salt, and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Chop all vegetables.
2. Combine all ingredients. Stir until thoroughly moistened. Keep refrigerated. Makes about 3 sandwiches.

Donna-FFW's Giveaway

I am just writing this entry to let you know that Donna-FFW at My Tasty Treasures is doing a giveaway. Three winners will receive a spring-related cookbook or magazine. Head over there and sign up!

Chili Barbecue Burgers

It is eighty degrees outside, with low humidity (something that does not happen often in Missouri). Grilling season has begun! I do not have a fantastic grill, but I have a grill. My parents gave it two Walter and me as a housewarming gift when we moved to this duplex last summer. It came late, so we did not use it nearly as often as we would have liked. However, I am definitely going to try to get much more use out of it this year.

Chili Barbecue Burgers



Walter loves burgers more than any food in the entire world. He eats them at every restaurant we go to, no matter the menu (except the Mongolian place). If it was all I cooked for the rest of his life, I think he would be okay with that. Of course, I also like to play around with the seasonings more than he does. He just wants a burger--I want a super awesome recipe. ;)

Ingredients
This is for one burger
-1/3 pound lean ground beef
-1 teaspoon chili powder
-1 teaspoon Southwestern Chipotle Mrs. Dash seasoning
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon seasoned meat tenderizer
-2 Tablespoons Hickory BBQ Sauce

Directions
1. Combine all seasonings with meat. Mix well.
2. On a heated grill (mine is charcoal-burning), cook burgers until done to your liking (about 30-45 minutes), flipping halfway through. After flipping, brush with
barbecue sauce. Flip again about 5 minutes before done, and brush with barbecue sauce again.

Chocolate Cake Bites

I had so much leftover cake from the castle cake that I thought I would put it to good use!

Chocolate Cake Bites



Walter prefers these to be called "Chocolate Cake Bites" when he brings them to the office...of course. So, instead of "cake balls," they have now been renamed. Cake Bites sounds cuter anyway. ;)



Ingredients
-1 recipe Easy Chocolate Party Cake
-1 jar Pilsbury Milk Chocolate icing
-12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
-12 ounces white chocolate
-1 bag each desired color Wilton colored melting discs

Directions
1. Prepare cake according to recipe. Cool. Crumble cake into a large bowl.
2. Stir in jar of icing. Mix until combined and all cake is moistened.
3. Roll cake into small balls, about 1/2 an inch in diameter.
4. Melt chocolate (keep colors separate), stirring often, until smooth. Dip balls in desired color/flavor and cool on wax paper (if desired, cool in refrigerator to harden more quickly).
5. Once cooled, use colored chocolate melting discs to drizzle each bite with color, if desired.

Curry Chipotle Chicken and Lemon Chipotle Potatoes

I love seasonings. I want them all.

Curry Chipotle Chicken



This recipe is my own. I think it could have used a bit more kick, so I may change it a bit next time, but it was still very good.

Ingredients
-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
-1 cup vegetable oil
-2 Tablespoons Southwestern Chipotle Mrs. Dash seasoning
-1 teaspoon curry powder
-1/4 teaspoon sage
-1/2 teaspoon cumin

Directions
1. Combine oil and seasonings and marinate chicken for 2 to 24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degree.
3. Place chicken and potatoes (recipe to follow) in a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Lemon Chipotle Potatoes

I wanted the side to be a bit lighter than the main course, and I think I achieved that with the lemon pepper seasoning. All in all, it was a pretty decent dish.

Ingredients
-3 medium red potatoes, chopped
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 Tablespoons Southwestern Chipotle Mrs. Dash seasoning
-1 Tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning

Directions
1. Combine oil and seasonings. Toss potatoes in mixture. Drain off excess.
2. Place potatoes with chicken in a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Princess Castle Cake: Kamryn

I was unsure about this cake all the way up to the end, when I added the green grass, vines, and writing. And even then I was not completely sure about it until it turned out much better in pictures than in real life. :P Overall, I am much happier with this cake than I was with my last, but I still have lots of room for improvement. Oh well...practice makes perfect!



The recipes for the icing and modeling chocolate are the same as the ones I used here, but I used butter flavoring in the icing instead of vanilla (and recommend that. It tasted much better this time). The cake recipe was from Country Living. The only requests I had from the girl receiving this cake were to make it chocolate and pink. I think I succeeded at both of those things.

My favorite parts of the cake are the path leading to the castle and the princess:



I used Wilton sparkling gel icing for the vines and flower shaped sprinkles for the flours (obviously). All of the other details were made from modeling chocolate.

Next, I am making an Easter basket cake. Hopefully it is even better!

Easy Chocolate Party Cake



This cake was incredibly moist and delicious...a little too moist, as it crumbed HORRIBLY when I frosted it, but it was still fantastic. I would recommend it with a chocolate frosting instead, to hide some of the crumbs, but it was still great. In order to make my cake, I made the recipe about four times--each recipe will fill one 8 by 8 square pan.

Ingredients
-2 cup(s) all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups and 4 Tablespoons of cake flour)
-1 1/2 cup(s) whole milk
-2/3 cup(s) granulated sugar
-2/3 cup(s) dark brown sugar
-1/2 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
-3/4 cup(s) butter
-3 large eggs
-2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
-1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix on medium speed until smooth. Pour into greased cake pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until middle springs back lightly when touched.