Recipe #12: Beer Battered French Fries.

Another recipe that I originally obtained from the lovely Julie Taylor.  I originally tried this recipe my senior year of high school. Except, then, we of course didn't use beer, we could only use water. And in fact, water is in the original recipe. Julie was the one who thought of using beer last summer. The beer doesn't add amazing taste. I'll be honest. But it's kind of fun to say that you're going to make beer battered french fries. So I did.

Beer Battered French Fries. 


-2 1/2 lb. russet potatoes (I just made one for each person I served plus one or two. Then again, I had extra.)
-1 cup flour
-1 teaspoon onion salt
-1 teaspoon garlic salt
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon paprika
-1/2 cup beer

As for the beer....I'm underage. I'm not a beer connoisseur. I don't know what is best or what is worst. I used Budweiser in my fries because, frankly, that's what my mom bought me when I asked her to get me beer. I'm assuming that you could use your favorite beer, should you have one, or water if you can't get your hands on the alcohol. Also, the 1/2 cup can be varied. Just add whichever liquid you choose until you think the batter is the right consistency.

Step 1: Get the potatoes ready.

Wash, peel, and slice potatoes into french fry size. Then place the new fries into a bowl of water to keep them from drying out. 

Step 2: Make the batter!

Pretty simple, really. Just combine the dry ingredients and then stir in the beer/water until it reaches the right consistency. 

Step 3: Batter them fries!

Immerse the potato slices in the batter and coat thoroughly. 

Step 4: Fry 'em and eat! 

When frying, be sure not to just dump all of the fries into the deep fryer.  The batter will stick together and not cook all the way. This is the worst part of the whole process. The frying can be time consuming, but I do think it's worth it. 

Step 4: Eat and eat and eat!

Epic french fries. Epic. 

Happy eating!!! Share the love!

-Olivia. 

Recipe #11: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes (And Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting).

What do I really love? C'mon, you should know. Even if you've never met me, if you've been following the blog, you should know. Think about it, think about it.....

Peanut butter. Second thing I really love- peanut butter and chocolate. Enter....

Reese's Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting. 


You read that right.

Let me just say this....I hate using cake mixes. I really, really hate it. I feel like a loser. I feel pathetic. I feel like I can't do anything good when I use box mixes. Scratch is where it's at. There's something special about sifting flour, separating eggs, and using baking powder.  So when I saw this recipe, I immediately had a love/hate relationship with it. The pictures looked so good...but there was a box in the recipe. I could only imagine peanut butter buttercream....but there was a box in the recipe. Luckily, I forgot about the box and focused on the product. Smart decision, I must say. Now let's get to it.


For the cake....
-1 pkg. Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
-1 pkg. Instant Chocolate Pudding
-1 cup sour cream
-1 cup vegetable oil
-4 eggs
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-Miniature Reese's Cups

Step 1: One step cake. 

Mix it alllll together. Not everything in the picture. The picture also includes the icing ingredients. Just mix together the above listed ingredients (except the Reese's) at one time and the cake batter is done. Literally that simple. 

Step 2: Cupcake time!

Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners and measure about 3 Tablespoons of batter into each.  Press miniature Reese cup into the center of each cupcake, but do not press in all the way. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick will come out clean. Remember when doing the toothpick trick to not poke directly into the center since the Reese cup is there. The center of the cupcake will look fallen even if completely baked due to the tiny chocolate morsel of amazing-ness hidden inside. 

Now for the icing...

-1 cup peanut butter

-1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

-2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

-2 lbs. powdered sugar

-3 or 4 Tablespoons low-fat milk, depending on desired thickness

Step 1: Icing base

Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. 

Step 2: Finish it up!

Mix in vanilla and alternate powdered sugar and milk until you reach your desired thickness. So good. So good. 

Step 3: Decorate and make 'em pretty!

Fairly self-descriptive. Another great idea to decorate these with is to add the newest Reese's, the really tiny, adorable mini Reese's on top of the piped icing. I was going to do that, but couldn't find them in the store. I'm sure they were there, but I didn't think about getting them until I was in the checkout line. Leaving my sister there, the mad dash to try to find them was highly unsuccessful. Oh well, they were delicious anyway. 

But seriously....who could turn this down? Okay, Sara would have to turn it down, but only because she's allergic to peanuts. My prayers are with her. 

Happy eating!!! Share the love!!

-Olivia.

Recipe #10: Cheesy Garlic Bread.

I’ve made two pasta recipes so far. Two pasta recipes and no bread. And what goes better with carbs than more carbs? Exactly. So here is the ultra cheesy, totally buttery, completely unhealthy, and absolutely delicious way to enjoy some homemade garlic bread with your homemade pasta!

Cheesy Garlic Bread. 

-1 loaf of Italian bread

-1/2 cup butter (-ish. The amount of butter is completely up to you)

-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

-1/2 cup fresh mozzarella 

-Block of Parmesan cheese for grating

-Italian seasoning

Step 1: Cut and butter! 

Slice the loaf in half lengthwise and then cut down the middle again to make a little slot. The picture will help explain this. Cut the butter into then slices and halve. Place pieces of butter inside the slot and place other pieces on top of bread. You'll use about 1/4 cup of butter on each half. 

Yes, I know it's a lot of butter. Get over it. 

Step 2: Garlic time!

Mince the fresh garlic and sprinkle it on the bread. 2 cloves per half. If you don't know how to mince fresh garlic, here's a step by step. 

Smash the clove of garlic with the flat side of the knife.

Remove the skin from the clove of garlic and chop it up! 

Step 3: Cheese it up!

Grate fresh parmesan on top of the butter and then slice fresh mozzarella and place on top of butter, garlic, and parmesan. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and you're all done! 

Step 4: Bake and eat! 

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly! Enjoy!! So good!

Happy eating! Share the love!!! 

Recipe #9: Lasagna Cupcakes.

Read the title again. Think about it. I know you're wondering what I mean. Well, relax, because I'm on to something.

Every time that I've ever made lasagna, I've always ended up with nearly a full pan of left overs. That never get eaten. Great. So I found a solution.

Lasagna Cupcakes. (Adapted from Can You Stay For Dinner) 


- 12 oz. ground lean beef
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon pepper
-1 cup chopped onion
-1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
-1 can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-3 teaspoons dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
-1 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
-24 wonton wrappers
-1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Remember- this was after the whole cake problem from my last post. Therefore, I was flustered. And I forgot to take a picture of my ingredients. I'm realizing that the more flustered I am, the less attention I pay to the blog. So in many of the upcoming recipes, there will be evasive, non-existant pictures. I'll apologize now.

Step 1: Making the sauce. 
Fairly simple, really. Just your basic meat sauce.

Saute the mushrooms, garlic and onions as the meat browns in a saucepan. 

Oh look, I forgot to take pictures of the sauce after it became a sauce. To finish the sauce, pour the tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes into the meat mixture along with 2 tsp. of the dried oregano. Bring the sauce to a low boil and then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and you're done!

Step 2: Ricotta filling

I once again took not near enough pictures. Combine the ricotta cheese, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, the remaining oregano, and basil together to complete the cheesy lasagna filling. 

Step 3: Make those cupcakes! 

Spray a muffin pan and line with wonton wrappers. I used the round wrappers so that the corners wouldn't be sticking out of the muffin pan and burn during baking. Press the wrappers into the bottom of the pan and press all the way to make sure they form the correct shape. You'll then layer the sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese. Add another wonton wrapper and repeat the steps. Simple as that. 

Most people I know have never used a wonton wrapper. They're located in the refrigerated section of the ethnic food section. If you're from around here (and if you know me, then you know where "here" is) and you go to Kroger, they're at the bottom of a cooler in the ethnic/organic food section next to the bakery). 

Step 4: Bake!

Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden. 

Step 5: Convert to a Lasagna Cupcake believer. 

It will happen. At least I think so. Perfect serving size in my opinion. And the best for portion control. Let's be honest- it's a lot easier to cut a bigger piece of lasagna and get away with it than it is to eat numerous cupcakes. I had leftover sauce, just a warning. So if you want to cut the sauce recipe down, feel free. But overall, they turned out pretty darn good. Colin and Molly seem to agree. 

Another success. I'll take it. 

Happy eating!! Share the love!!

-Olivia.

Recipe #8: Play-Doh Cake.

First of all: I should probably call this Rainbow Cake instead. But Play-Doh is just way more fun.

Second of all: This is the cake I complained about in my last post. So you know how it turns out. But I'm taking the high road, I'm realizing that lessons come from bad experiences, and I'm embracing my baking blunder.

Here we go.

Play-Doh Cake.


-2 3/4 cups cake flour
-4 teaspoons baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-4 egg whites
-1 1/2 cups white sugar
-3/4 cup butter
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon almond extract

Step 1: Sift, sift, sift. 

Literally. Sift. Sift. Sift. Three times. Cake flour. Baking Powder. Salt. 

Step 2: Meringue, anyone? 

Here's the deal with Meringue. It's fickle. Real fickle. I think that's part of the problem that I had with the cake. So read carefully and take notes. Okay, maybe not notes. As long as you follow my directions, you'll be okay. 

First: Separate the eggs. If you have an egg separator, great. If not, you can save yourself the dish and use the shell! 

Beat the eggs. And then beat them some more. And then some more. High speed until eggs are foamy. 

This occurred after a lot of egg beating. A lot. 

Combine half cup of white sugar with the eggs. And then beat some more. A lot more. 

Eventually, the eggs and sugar will become this. Slightly unbelievable, but true. Keep mixing until soft peaks form when the mixer is lifted out. Check often because over mixing can cause problems with the cake. 

Step 3: Here comes the Cake Batter. 

I guess I'm doing the steps for this blog a little differently. Because there are so many components to the cake (or two components), I'm dividing it by the big steps. Under the captions are the step by step directions. For this part, I recommend moving the meringue to a separate bowl and washing the original mixing bowl. In the end, the entire batter will be mixed in the large bowl, so this needs to be done. Back to the batter: 

Cream the butter and remaining cup of white sugar until smooth. 

Begin adding small amounts of the sifted dry ingredients in rotation with small amounts of the milk. Mix between each addition until smooth. 

Add flavorings.

Step 3: And two became one...a love story: 

Combine the meringue in with the cake batter. Mix thoroughly, but no more than needed. Anytime that meringue is used, treat it like a person. No one likes to be beat up for no reason. Meringue has feelings too. Be gentle, or it will bite back and ruin your dessert. Trust me. 

How can two parts of such fluffiness not make a fluffy cake? Well, I'm about to tell you. 

Step 4: Bake away. 

Here's where the pictures and the right directions get in a bit of a tiff. I got a big head and started thinking that I could do anything good in the kitchen and that I was better than the rules. Nope. Turns out I was wrong. So the correct directions are: 

-Pour batter into a 15 x 10 x 1 pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. This can also transfer to two 9" round pans baked at 30-35 minutes or two 8" round pans baked for 25-30 minutes. 

- Remove from pan after 10 minutes of cooling and let cake cool completely on a cooling rack. 

I bet that if I would have just listened to that, it would have turned out delicious. So just because the cake flopped on me, don't give up hope. I dare you to continue baking it and enjoy the deliciousness. But as for the rest of the story, this is what I did....

I simply sprayed the pans with cooking spray and divided the cakes into four 9" pans. Why four, you ask? Just wait. 

I was on a mission to create a color cake. So I divided the batter into fourths and colored it up. The blue and green, I mixed after pouring into the pan. Then I realized that it would probably be better to do it ahead of time as to not mix in the cooking spray. Either way, it was really just a big mistake on my part to try to add food coloring to a recipe such as this. You see, food coloring requires mixing. I over mixed the meringue and it fought back. And it won. 

I did do this right, if nothing else. So pay attention, readers. When baking more than one cake in this fashion, make sure to stagger them in position in the oven.  This helps regulate heat and also ensures that each cake will bake evenly. It requires a little love, because you need to rotate them half way (or in this case, quarters) of the way through, but it helps with the cake, so it's worth it. 

The cake will begin to pull away from the pan when it's done baking. The toothpick trick is also helpful. 

Step 5: Make it pretty.

Again, this part didn't really work for me. I let my cakes rest in the pan too long (along with the fact that I didn't line the pan with parchment paper) and as I tried to flip them out, they pretty much fell apart. Looking back, it would have been great to take a picture of that, but I wasn't in the mood for photography. My mother came to the rescue, stacked the cake together, and crumb coated the icing for me. Thank God, because at that point, I was so over cakes that I didn't want to look at it. But anyway, it kind of sort of made it. At least for pictures.

Colin slaving away on the decorating. Thank you, sir. 

Well, I wouldn't call it pretty, but, oh well. 

Well, that's the story of the Play-Doh cake. So what lessons did we learn? Follow the directions. Find a recipe without meringue involved when using food coloring. And gain some gosh darn patience when baking a cake. Okay, maybe that was just me that learned that lesson. 

Overall, though the cake became really heavy and dense from the over mixing, it did taste good. The almond extract really adds to the flavor of the cake. I'd recommend the recipe, but stick to the recipe. 

Happy eating! Share the love! 

-Olivia.