Baked Potato Heaven

http://www.mamalovesfood.com/2009/06/baked-potato-soup-slow-cooker-style.html

Just after high school I worked at a restaurant that made a delicious Baked Potatoe Soup. I craved it for years after working there. Finally as a newlywed I combed through various allrecipes.com for a recipe that would taste similar. I made one, liked it buy found it cumbersome. I played around over the years trying to find one that I could make in my crockpot. Finally I found one at http://www.mamalovesfood.com/2009/06/baked-potato-soup-slow-cooker-style.html. I used it as my guide (if it does not involve baked goods I rarely make something as written. I bet hers would have been delicious as written but I put my own spin on it, and man was it good.

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup: (yields 5 quarts, or enough to feed 7 adults)

5 lb bag of potatos, peeled and cubed
8oz block cream cheese (I used fat free and it worked great)
1/2 cup sour cream ( I also used FF)
9 cups chicken broth (I used a product called Better than Bouillon to make this)
4 tbs minced garlic (or garlic powder or the real deal)
2 tbs onion powder
1 tbs. Tony Sacherees Creole Seasoning (which includes: salt, red pepper, basil, oregano and thyme)
1 tbs. Salt
(additonal seasoning as desired)

Garnishes:
Crumpled Bacon (at least 1 cup for the whole batch)
2 cups Cheddar Cheese (or similar cheese)
Green Onions (if desired)

Cook potatoes in chicken broth for 6 hours on high, turn to low until 30 min before serving. When you are 30 min from serving take out 1/3 of the potatoes and broth and put it in a blender with the block of cream cheese and sour cream. Blend until liquefied. If their is not enough take out additional chicken broth from the crock pot). Return the creamed mixture to the crock pot. Season additionally as desired. Technically it is ready to serve, but I like giving it the extra bit of time to thicken up.

Serve with desired garnishes and enjoy :)

Special Note:
When reheating the soup, milk will need to be added to the soup to thin it, as it tends to thicken immensely after being refrigerated.

Cooking Up a Storm

The first night we were in our home as a family we got a hankering for some good ole fashioned chocolate chip cookies. For those of you who are unfamiliar with my family history regarding baking, basically my mom and mother in law are both experts at baking. Both make famously delicious crescent rolls. My mom is known for chocolate chip cookies and my mother in law makes a fruitcake that will make anyone change their mind about the stuff (its really really good).  

So basically I am a cookie snob (and a roll snob, but I can't seem to make those on my own yet). I have finally found (okay so my sister found it) a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is mine and G's personal favorite. Behold yummyness:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/03/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Well this baking/ eating yummy treats urge hit again yesterday. So I made another ourbestbites gem.

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/05/glazed-lemon-bars/

They are unique lemon bar wise because they have a glaze instead of the classic sugar on top. This basically means that you get the same sweetness but none of the choking or gagging on powdered sugar when you inhale these bad boys.

I made these before and overcooked my crust, while the filling was undercooked. I was able to remedy this problem by lowering the oven temp to 340 this allowed me cook the filling long enough with out burning the shortbread crust. I also added extra lemon juice because I love mine a little stronger.

To round out my baking madness I made an additional batch of cookies. For these I made my staple favorite Oatmeal Cookies. Sadly I forgot to let the dough completely freeze before making them, meaning I was left with pancake cookies. The dough tasted phenomenal and so did the finished cookies, they just won't be winning awards for looks anytime soon. If you have a hankering for cookie dough this dough is great one to keep in the freezer (if you dare).

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/soft-oatmeal-cookies/detail.aspx

Happy Baking :)

Barren Walls

We are happy to report that we are all moved in (we unpacked our last box yesterday). We even put up our Christmas decorations, which have made my kitchen and part of my family room look very festive. Nonetheless we still have a terrible case of barren walls, wall screaming for a decorators touch. Sure we have wall hangings that we used at various apartments, but the thought of putting them up for good in our home has us standstill. Pinterest has left me with many ideas, so many in fact that I have no idea which to use or where to put them.

Exhibit A:  The huge empty wall behind our TV, any suggestions?

Exhibit B: Equal sized walls on either side of our family room window? I imagine window treatments would help, but alas I have no idea what kind.

Exhibit C: Here we want to put a huge fancy picture of the Salt Lake temple and maybe a wedding photo on each side, but other than that we are drawing a blank.

Exhibit D: We don't own a headboard and we have no idea what would look nice in a master bedroom.

Exhibit E: A wall in our master bedroom, here I was thinking of displaying a cool pattern of mirrors, I picked  up two cheap packs of small frameless mirrors at ikea awhile back, but I am not sure what design to use for them.

So yeah, we would love any and all creative input :) In case you missed our facebook post, here is our kitchen for good measure.

And here is Mr. B atop the stairs (just in case you wanted to admire the carpet and his cute smile).

Fall Fun

So I have pretty much been turning green with jealousy every time I see someone's fall family pictures. I just cannot get over the super cute kiddos playing in the leaves and the pretty fall colors. Well thanks to my gracious sister of Michelle Lea Photography, our family finally has some cute pics of our own. Now you will have to pardon our lack of photogenicness, we find it pretty hard to look good whilst trying to make our squirmy toddler sit still long enough for a picture. If you live in Utah Valley or Denver she would love to take some more.

Halloween Treat Fun

My absolute favorite Halloween treat (okay anytime treat) is popcorn balls. Not the caramel kind, or the really hard ones that almost break your teeth off. Rather I like them soft and chewy just like my mom use to make/makes for me when I am at her house. They are incredibly delicious and pretty simple and quick to make. The only problem with them is that they are so delicious that I cannot stop eating them. I am pretty darn sure I downed about 4 maybe 5 of them last night at the Halloween party that I took them to. Anyhow I thought I should share the deliciousness.

Okay so not everybody will be able to make these because they require an airpopper to make the popcorn you can use in the recipe (some people use other types of poppers but this is the kind I am most use to using). So if you decide you need to make some of these I would be happy to lend you my trusty 20 year old popper. I am pretty sure you could also pick up a second hand one for under 5 dollars.

Enough Popcorn For a Double Batch

Prep:

Begin by popping 2 large mixing bowls worth of popcorn (sift it through your fingers to remover kernals, I also throw out the smaller pieces if you want). 

Recipe:

Syrup Ingredients-

2 C.    White Sugar

1 C.    Light Caro Syrup

1/2 C. Butter

1/4 C. Water

4 Drops of food coloring (optional but highly encouraged as it helps you tell how well if the popcorn is being evenly coated with the syrup mixture). 

After Boiling-

2 t. vanilla

Put in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil until it reaches a "soft ball" stage, 234 Degrees F. If you do not have a candy thermometer you can test if the syrup is done by dropping a spoonful in ice cold water and if it turns into a soft stringy ball (you will actually have to put your hand into the cup and feel the syrups consistency). After this has occurred add 2 teaspoons vanilla and stir. You can now begin pouring the mixture into the mixing bowls of popcorn. I use a flexible spatula, and make sure to constantly scrap the bottom of the bowl so that the syrup does not just get stuck on the bottom of the bowl. 

Once the coated popcorn has cooled for 3-5 minutes you can begin shaping them into balls. Make sure to take off any jewelry and spray your hands with cooking spray to reduce the amount of syrup on your hands.

I either wrap them individually in wax paper or I set them on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. 

Ta Daaaaa 

Delicious popcorn balls!

Mine looked identical to these (minus the awesome garnishing)

Cousins and California :)

I had not been out to Southern California since before G and I got married almost 3 years ago. In that my Dad had also not been out there to visit him Mom (my grandmother) I suggested we planned a trip together. So 2 weeks after we returned from Colorado Mr. B and I headed back to the airport and headed to Great Grandma's house.

Mr. B's grandpa was very smart and made sure that not only did Mr. B and I have nonstop flights, but he scheduled his flights so that he was waiting for us when we got there, and was able to see us off when we left. I was awesome to have his help as we got our baggage and on the way home he helped entertain Mr. B when our plane was delayed.

Our trip started on a Wednesday morning, the airport was pretty quiet and Mr. B was relatively well behaved there. We curb checked our bags, I put Mr. B on my back, breezed through security (thanks to family security lines, which I really wished the Denver airport had) and we strolled through the airport leisurely killing time.

Mr. was unimpressed by his binky, sippy cup and even a lollipop, leading him to find the descent miserable. He screamed 15 minutes before falling asleep for 1 minute. My little rascall considered that a nap, and went on to stay awake for another 2 hours. It was insane.

Mr. B had never met his Great Grandma, and he instantly became her friend, wanting to sit next to her.

We got to spend lots of time visiting with her, old friends, and my Aunts, Uncle and Cousins and their kids. We made sure to get lots and lots of pictures.

Summer Fun

Low and behold my camera decided to forgive my computer and they began speaking again. Okay so actually they just both decided that they like G. and his computer skills more than me. Anyhow I am so excited to finally have access to the pictures we have taken the last two months. Be prepared for a photo bomb.

Camping in Manti and Hanging out at the Zoo:

Denver Trip Part 2:

Having cousin time in Grandma B's playhouse.

 Grandma was awesome enough to get Mr. B all clean again. He though his sink shower was pretty nifty.

Last Week: Mr. B. ran a fever that left him much more cuddly and sleepy than usual.

So sleepy that 6pm was too late for him :)