Chicken Enchilada Soup

Have you ever had a dish that was so good, so memorable, that you knew you just had to have the recipe? I have; Multiple times. This time it was the chicken enchilada soup from Chilis. I actually had the soup a while back, around the Christmas holidays. But as I was roaming the internet for more recipes, I came across a recipe for this soup. Needless to say I was very excited. I decided to make it.

It was pretty simple to make; I actually only needed to buy a couple of ingredients, the rest I already had. The hardest part about this recipe was cooking the chicken. I find that funny because, regardless of the years I have been cooking, chicken is one of the hardest things for me. Anyway, once the chicken was cooked, the rest of the recipe fell into place with ease.

I had to let this simmer for about 35 minutes. The wait was so hard!

This recipe turned out so well! I was very happy it resembled the soup from Chilis so well. I will definitely make this again. It did make about 8 servings though, so I won't have to make it again too soon!

Cream-Filled Strawberry Brownie Cake

So this week heralded the 39th birthday of my good friend and coworker. To mark the occasion I wanted to make something for her that I knew she would like (she loves strawberries) that would also get compliments from others also sampling the cake. I decided to make the Cream-Filled Strawberry Brownie Cake.

I first saw the recipe on a website called Pinterest, and further discovered that it is a recipe pulled from the Pillsbury website. Well, I for one did not know that one could find recipes on that website, though it should have been obvious. But honestly, when I think of Pillsbury what comes to mind is not recipes for dessert! I, like many, picture biscuits and the Pillsbury Dough Boy getting poked in the belly and giggling. Regardless, this cake looked somewhat difficult to make. As I perused the recipe, however, it became clear to me that it might be a little easier that what the picture led me to believe. And I was right!

The recipe called for three separate cake pans, because the cake is in three layers. I was very relieved to find that I did indeed have three cake pans to use. Whew!

All that's left is to frost it!

Yay frosting!

Ahhh the end result. Thankfully, the cake was a big hit. I got tons of compliments on it and multiple requests for the recipe. I was happy my friends enjoyed it. While I love to bake, there's not point if there aren't people to help you savor the results.

I don't know what I'll be making for next week. I just recently acquired a candy thermometer so I might just try a couple of candy recipes I've been eying. On the other hand, there is a really good recipe for oven fried chicken and spicy seet potato fries that looks really good. Either way, I will keep my promise to myself to cook SOMETHING every week, however small. 

Pork Piccata

So starting off this week I decided to make pork piccata. I saw this recipe on the Weight Watchers website (yes, ironically I am a member) and thought it looked like a good meal. As the reviews on recipe said, the meal wasn't difficult to make. As with many other recipes it is merely time consuming. The recipe included spinach on the side so for a 4 point meal, I thought I couldn't lose!

                                                                                                                                                                  

The results, as you can see, look pretty darn good! I thought so too. However, this recipe was somewhat disappointing. Not because it wasn't a good recipe and not because I didn't get the ingredients correct; I simply found that the amount of lemon juice the recipe called for was too much for me. It caused quite a tang in the sauce that I found quite unappealing. If I decide to make this again, and I just might, I will definitely know not to add as much lemon juice. Aside from the tartness, the pork and spinach were actually very good. I don't regret making it and as it is my lunch for the next two days, I will learn to not only tolerate the tang, but LOVE IT!

Starting Off...

So I was puttering around my kitchen today, trying multiple times to succeed in making soft pretzels from scratch, I realized that this may be the last time in a while that I have this much time to spend trying out new recipes. I have always liked to cook and have loved even more baking. But as I have a full time job and my last semester of college begins tomorrow, I felt that I will need to find time to do something for me, lest I go insane in the coming months.

And so starts this blog. It is my goal to, at least one day a week, create a little masterpiece in my kitchen. I want to be able to find the time to bake or cook something, however small, every week. These creations will not be from my own head, they will be recipes found online, in cookbooks, or suggestions from friends. It is my hope that one day I can look back on all that I have cooked, see the pictures of all that I have made, and find pride in myself and my creations.

Make no mistake, I have no aspirations to be a chef. I have never wanted that for my life. My goal is to be an elementary teacher and always has been. However, cooking and baking are activities I have always enjoyed. And so we begin...