Another Pinterest Recipe Recommendation: Pan Seared, Honey Salmon

This Pinterest recipe SOUNDS much more complicated than it really is.  I almost didn't make it.  In fact, I even put it off for a night because I didn't feel like major cooking the night I had planned to make it.  Big mistake.

This is SUCH an easy recipe from Cooking Classy.  Honestly, besides zesting a couple limes and chopping up one garlic clove, you don't have to do much prep for this recipe.  The rest of the prep is just pouring, shaking and mixing in ingredients as the salmon cooks.

Besides being easy, it is reaaaaally yummy.  I got a large piece of salmon for Ryan and I, and this recipe was so delicious, that we polished it off completely.  I am talking about lick the plate clean. 

Try it.  You won't regret it.  Let me know how much you liked it.  You're welcome.

Double Chocolate, Sour Cream Cake

My mom made this cake for me for my birthday back in September and I was hooked!  She found the recipe from a reader in The Orange County Register.  I am not much of a chocolate cake person unless it is GOOD chocolate cake.  This is GOOD cake--really good!

I made cake pops using this cake for my autumn bridal shower, and I recently made this cake for my husband's birthday this week.  It is a hit every time.  This is a perfect winter holiday recipe--rich, gooey, thick and decadent. 

Double Chocolate, Sour Cream Cake
1 package of chocolate cake mix
1 small package of instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup of oil
3/4 cup of milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 package (12 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped nuts, optional (I don't use these in my cake)

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and beat until mixed.  Pour into a greased bundt pan or into pans you are using.  Bake at 350 for 48-50 minutes for a bundt cake, bake about 35 minutes for 2 round cake pans, and bake about 40 minutes for a 9 by 13 pan.  Check regularly and be careful to not overcook-these times are estimates.

Let the cake cool in the pan, and then invert it onto a cake plate.  Use your favorite frosting (I have used my cream cheese frosting and chocolate frosting, and it is good with any flavor!).  Enjoy!

Harvest Salad

Well, before I get into the recipe for this yummy salad, I have to be honest with you all.  Friday Favorites posts might be taking a break for a little while.  I have found that Pinterest has replaced a need for me to highlight fun crafts, recipes, and parties.  Most of my blog readers are now on Pinterest, and I have noticed a dropped interest in the Friday highlights since people started joining Pinterest, which essentially highlights great projects 24 hours a day/7 days a week.  Since I am extremely busy with two boys, a husband looking for work, a ministry I co-lead at church and a beginning stages shop, the time I spend gathering, linking and writing up the favorites does not seem worth the amount of interest it currently holds.  I'd love your thoughts, though.  If the only thing you like about Calico and Cupcakes is the Friday Favorites, let me know.  I want to do my best to make this blog an interesting, fun, and creative place to visit!

Okay, this recipe is courtesy of my lovely sister's mother in law.  Our families are close and spend many holiday's together, and when I first tasted this salad, I KNEW I had to get the recipe.  She calls it a "Cornucopia Salad," and it is truly full of tasty goodies. 

Bring the salad to Thanksgiving, serve it at a baby or bridal shower, or just make a wonderful meal for your family.  It is a perfect autumn salad!

Harvest Salad
1/2 cup of candied nuts or a bag of honey coated almond slivers in the salad section
1/2 head of Romaine, torn
1/2 head of butter lettuce, torn
1 cup of chopped celery
4 chopped green onions
11 ounce can of mandarin orange slices
1 avocado cut into chunks
1 apple diced (Granny Smith are a great variety)
1/4 cup of craisins or other berry
1/2 cup of feta or blue cheese, crumbled
3 chicken breasts grilled and chopped or a double package of Tyson cooked chicken strips, cooked

Dressing:
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup of veg. oil
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Tablespoons of white wine vinegar
Mix and pour over salad when ready to serve.

Crock Pot French Dip Sandwiches

         
Thank you, once again, to Pinterest, and my friend Lisa who pinned this recipe first, we are having a delicious dinner.  My family is thankful for that website too.  They are eating better than ever.  Last night we had a spaghetti casserole with cream cheese and french onions that was scrumptious. 

I am REALLY excited about tonight's meal, though, because it is one of my husband's favorites--French Dip sandwiches.  It is his birthday week, so I am trying to fix his favorites.  The best thing about this recipe is that it is all done in a crock pot. 

I'm linking the recipe, but know that I didn't find beef consume.  I just used beef broth, and I think it will be great.

Here is the recipe from Becky Higgins.  Enjoy!

Hip, Hip Hooray for Hamburgers

                            
I always thought it would be interesting to fly around the county and see the different takes on hamburgers in different states.  There is definitely a California slant on hamburgers where I live--lots of avocado, and turkey and veggie burgers are everywhere you go.  I have my favorites though.  Inspired by the Pioneer Woman's Favorite Hamburger post, I thought sharing different hamburger recipes would be a fun summer post.  Warning:  This post is not diet sensitive.  There are many high calorie and high fat items being discussed.  Alright, continue reading.  You've been warned.

The Ryan Burger
Unlike me, my husband hates condiments, so his favorite hamburger that I make is a flavor filled patty, so you don't add much to the hamburger after it is done.  I mix one and a half pounds of meat with grated parmesan cheese, dashes of worschestire sauce, and Lawry's Seasoning Salt to taste.  After forming patties, I top each burger with Muenster cheese (hubby likes MELLOW cheese) and a toasted bun.  I love the condiments, but I like very little to no lettuce and tomato on my burger.  I want to taste the MEAT!  I don't mind a bunch of avocado on top, though.  Everything is better with avocado.

Teriyaki Burger
Teriyaki burgers are yummy.  One of my favorites is at The Habit.  I tasted my first teriyaki burger at The Habit in Santa Barbara.  Deliciousness. 
Mix your hamburger meat with teriyaki sauce and some dashes of cracked pepper.  Form the meat into patties.  While grilling, at the end, top the patties with swiss cheese and onion straws or rings.  Have fun with this and add a ring of pineapple on top of the burger.  If you are like me, a couple slices of bacon sound good right about now too . . .


BBQ Burger
Barbeque burgers are scrumptious.  I don't just mean grilled burgers when I say bbq.  I mean barbeque like a western cheeseburger.  Salt and pepper your meat, and I would add a dash of BBQ sauce to the meat before forming patties.  Top with your favorite slices of cheese while finishing the grilling process.  This hamburger needs to be on a toasted bun with lots of ooey gooey bbq sauce, an unhealthy amount of bacon, and crispy onion rings.  Yum.  P.S.  Don't ever look at the calorie/fat content of a Western Bacon Cheeseburger.  You will spit it out in amazement.

Here are some other hamburger variations/recipes thanks to Allrecipes.com.  Enjoy the delicious inspiration!

Goya submitted a chipotle cheeseburger with kick.  I love spice, especially on the bbq, so this looks like a good variation.



Chris's Bay Area burgers submitted by Gavin look fresh and delicious.  The key ingredient in these burgers is basil--yum!  Reviewers liked less salt than the recipe lists, but the results were really favorable. . .



Quiksmyle gave us a Blue Cheeseburger that got RAVE reviews.  One cook added bacon to the burger too, which sounded good to me!  Bacon not only tastes great, but it would help make the burgers moist.  A lot of cooks said they also added even more blue cheese than the recipe says.  Yummo!



Here is another spicy recipe.  These burgers are stuffed with jalapenos and cream cheese.  Again, the reviews are favorable and this had me drooling.  This Jalapeno and Cream Cheeseburger was submitted by Noelle C.



Finally, we end with a Gyro Burger.  This lamb and beef mixture brings back memories of our trip to Athens and Santorini.  Chef Kenneth gives us this wonderful twist on the burger.  One reviewer added Feta cheese, which would really make this taste Greek!



Happy grilling!

Top photo clipart found on clkr.com, cc courtesy of OCal.

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Crabs and Cookies

I have only eaten a true "crack the shell" crab once in my life.  I was so bad at it and messy that the restaurant owner finally came over to put me out of my misery and shell the crab for me.  Sigh.  I do enjoy eating crab dipped in butter, though, and I am always a fan of crab cakes too.  Crab cookies, though?  Hmmm.

My son thought I was indeed going to take crabmeat and make a cookie when I announced we were making "crab cookies" last night.  He was happy to find out that, instead, I meant I was making sugar cookies and decorating them to look like crabs.

I made sugar cookies from scratch, using this easy recipe from Allrecipes:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-sugar-cookies/detail.aspx

As soon as the cookies came out of the oven, I stuffed licorice legs into the warm, pliable dough.

Once they were cool, I frosted them using this recipe from Allrecipes:  (I used about 12 drops of red food coloring and only 1 TEASPOON of vanilla) http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butter-Icing-for-Sugar-Cookies/Detail.aspx

I used mini chocolate chips for eyes and brown sugar for the sand.  These are the kind of crab cookies that I like to eat! 

Happy Birthday Chicks

Carter's birthday was last week.  To celebrate at his pre-kindergarten class, we brought in "treats."  It so happened that the class eggs were hatching chicks the same week as Carter's celebration, so he wanted to have me make something that recognized the chicks too.

I was going to make chick cupcakes, but 5 year olds and cupcakes are messy.  I felt sorry for the teacher and just made chick cookies in order to alleviate some of the mess. 

I simply frosted some sugar cookies and covered them with yellow, dyed, sweetened, shredded coconut.  I put on two chocolate chips for eyes and added orange gummy candies cut into beaks.  Easy and cute!

The kids in the class were a little slow to dig in, and I finally realized, when one boy spoke up, they thought I had put shredded cheese on the cookies!  I wouldn't eat that either!

They finally ate the cookies once I promised them I did not use cheese.

Happy birthday, Carter and baby chicks!

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Chicken Enchiladas

         
We have a family friend who is going through what we went through a few weeks back--both kids sick with RSV. It is amazing how we are so much more compassionate with people when we have gone through their particular trial ourselves.
I wanted to bring her dinner, and I know her hubby likes Mexican food. I found a yummy chicken enchilada recipe at A Sweet Pea Chef.
I adapted the recipe slightly, and I would make more filling next time I make it, but it was probably the best home enchiladas I've made yet. 

Here are the ingredients:

Put your garlic in the enchilada sauce and bring to a simmer.

  

Let your chicken breasts cook in the simmering enchilada sauce for about 20-30 minutes.

                               

To help ensure your corn tortillas don't crack and break, quickly pan fry them in a tiny bit of oil on both sides.

Take your cooked chicken out of the enchilada sauce.  Look at that beautiful red color.

Now, using a fork, shred your chicken.

Combine the shredded chicken with half the cheese, 1/2 cup of cilantro and 3/4 cup of the cooked enchilada sauce.  The hot sauce will make the cheese nice and gooey.  Now you have the filling.

Take each tortilla and stuff with some of the filling.  Roll it closed and lay it seam side down in the pan.

Cook at 400 for about 8 minutes.

Pour 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce over the top, sprinkle on a cup of cheese and then sprinkle on some more cilantro.  Cook about 25 minutes more and enjoy!

Oh, and here is something I like to do when I bring someone a meal.  Make them cinnamon rolls!  They can enjoy them as dessert OR they can wake up and look forward to a fun breakfast treat.  A friend did this for us when we had our boys, and it was delicious and fun!

Chicken Enchiladas

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (1 1/2 cups) enchilada sauce (I use Mild)
kosher salt
ground black pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts--I would use 3
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided (I used a 2 cup packet of Mexican flavored cheese instead of two separate cheesepackets).
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. fre sh cilantro, roughly chopped, divided
12 6-inch corn tortillas (I used yellow corn)
cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Add the minced garlic to the enchilada sauce in a deep skillet and heat to boiling. Generously sprinkle kosher salt and ground black pepper over the chicken breasts and then nestle the chicken breasts into the sauce. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the sauce, set aside and let both the chicken and the sauce cool.
Using two forks, shred the chicken breasts by holding one fork steady and slowly scraping the other fork, prongs faced backwards, away from the other fork (see picture above). Transfer the shredded chicken to a large bowl. Add half the enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup each of the Monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses and the 1/2 cup of cilantro to the shredded chicken. Stir to combine.
Wrap the corn tortillas in a damp cloth or paper towel and microwave on high for 20-30 seconds until pliable and warm. Using cooking spray (if desired), oil a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture along the center of the tortilla. Gently, but firmly, roll the tortilla around the filling and place into the baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Lightly spray the tortillas with cooking spray (or brush lightly with olive oil). This will help the tortillas turn golden in the oven and will also help keep them from cracking. Place baking dish in the oven, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until the tortillas begin to turn golden.  Instead of doing what is in italics, I read the comments on the recipe and instead quickly pan fried each tortilla in a tiny bit of oil before I stuffed them.  This helped keep my tortillas from cracking and I got to skip the microwave step.  This also gave my torillas some texture and crisp.
Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle remaining cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro. Lightly cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place into the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil after 20 minutes and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is golden.
Remove form the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes prior to serving.
Feel free to add a dollop (or two!) of sour cream and some more chopped cilantro for a garnish if you’d like.
Of course, I add sides of avocado or guacamole.  Ole!


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